The 69th FIFA Congress in Paris will fine-tune President Gianni Infantino’s controversial plan for an enlarged Club World Cup, which would see the current competition grow from seven to 24 teams. A plan to increase the size of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48 teams has been abandoned.

Infantino will not face a challenger in June’s elections for the presidency of world soccer’s governing body. He was first elected president during the FIFA Extraordinary Congress in Feb 2016. He replaced Sepp Blatter, who stepped down in 2015 amidst the FIFA corruption crisis.

The FIFA Council approved the 24-team plan for the Club World Cup in March despite the refusal of Europe’s top clubs to take part in the pilot tournament in Jun-Jul 2021. The tournament will replace the current seven-team annual Club World Cup, which is currently played in December, with an expanded quadrennial version. It will occupy the slot previously scheduled for the traditional World Cup warm-up event, the Confederations Cup. FIFA sees the format as more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors.

Plans to expand the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48 teams were abandoned in May after FIFA concluded that there was not enough time “for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact.” Infantino said in 2018 that the expansion could be brought forward from the 2026 tournament, but the change would have required Qatar to share hosting duties with other countries in the region.

The June congress is also likely to discuss the preparations by Canada, the United States and Mexico for their jointly-hosted 2026 World Cup.

Infantino plans for new global tournaments back on FIFA agenda (Reuters Oct 2018)

FIFA President Infantino to run for re-election in 2019 (Reuters Jun 2018)

FIFA to go ahead with Club World Cup revamp despite opposition from Europe's top clubs

(SkySports Mar 2019)

World Cup 2022: FIFA says 48-team tournament 'feasible' (CNN Mar 2019)

World Cup: Fifa drops plans to expand Qatar 2022 to 48 teams (BBC May 2019)

Date written/update: 2019-05-23