2030 World Cup: Behind the scenes of the New York summit with Chiqui Tapia, without Milei, and how the call to expand the tournament to 64 countries continues.
Last April, CONMEBOL had sown the seed . This Tuesday in New York, a summit between the highest authorities of Argentina , including AFA boss Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia , Paraguay and Uruguay, along with FIFA president Gianni Infantino , served to present the plan for the 2030 World Cup , the centenary that they will co-host with Spain , Portugal and Morocco , to be further expanded to 64 countries. The most notable absentee was the Argentine government, despite Javier Milei having confirmed his presence .
At the 80th CONMEBOL Congress, its president , Alejandro Domínguez , took the floor and, after highlighting the work the governing body of South American football has been doing on the continent, surprised everyone with a direct request to FIFA to play the 2030 World Cup "for the sole purpose" with 64 teams . He then repeated his request at the 75th FIFA Congress, held in Asunción, Paraguay, on May 15.
Thank you very much President @SantiPenap , President @OrsiYamandu , President @tapiachiqui , President @RHarrisonP and President @nachoalonso33 for joining us at the FIFA offices in New York to continue building the dream of the 2030 World Cup together! Let's keep believing in... pic.twitter.com/D4HgRvmKiL
— Alejandro Domínguez (@agdws) September 24, 2025
But, up to that point, it was just a request. What happened this Tuesday at FIFA's Trump Tower office in the United States was the formal presentation of the "plan" for expanding the number of 48 teams in 2026 to 64 participants .
According to Clarín , there was a formal proposal at the meeting that instead of one match, each South American host country would play its entire group on home soil . Since there would be 16 zones, the remaining 13 would have to be divided between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which has already shown progress in the construction and renovation of its venues . With the new 48-match format, there would be 12 groups that would host the tournament.
"We are family, and we also did our part to bring about our reunion and make our dream come true," Domínguez welcomed Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström .
We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup! Thank you, President Gianni Infantino, for welcoming us and sharing this journey toward the centennial of football's greatest celebration.
We want to call for unity, creativity, and believing big. Because when football is experienced among… pic.twitter.com/XANKxNLf5J
"As we approach the date, we reaffirm that it can't be just another event, it can't be a World Cup like no other. So we believe it's a once-in-a-century opportunity to have a group stage played in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay," the CONMEBOL president concluded.
But what needs to happen for this request to become a reality? It needs to be approved by the FIFA Council , after reaching the necessary consensus, although it would not be well received in Europe and Africa. The next meetings of the world football governing body will be on October 2 in Zurich, Switzerland, and then in April in Vancouver, Canada .
For now, it was Infantino himself who calmed things down. In fact, in a post on his social media, he spoke of "commemorative matches" for the first centennial of the World Cup, which began in Uruguay in 2030. He made no reference to CONMEBOL's proposal .
"It was a productive meeting, made possible by our shared love of football. We are all very excited to unite the world in South America during the commemorative matches of the FIFA World Cup Centennial in 2030," he wrote.
The AFA expressed annoyance at Milei's absence. In fact, in a message on social media, AFA President Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia specifically thanked the heads of state of Uruguay and Paraguay, presenting each of the attendees with a plaque.
I had the honor of being part of the FIFA summit, organized by Gianni Infantino, with the goal of starting to organize what will be the 2030 World Cup.
It was truly a pleasure to have represented our country at this important meeting. pic.twitter.com/Zmwja6a3p4
— Chiqui Tapia (@tapiachiqui) September 23, 2025
"I had the honor of being part of the FIFA summit, organized by Gianni Infantino, with the goal of beginning to organize what will be the 2030 World Cup. It was truly a pleasure to have represented our country at this important meeting," Tapia wrote.
Milei, Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, and any representative of the Argentine government, who was in the North American country for a meeting with President Donald Trump, were not present.
" A Government and a President who hate the popular, hate football. Today Milei turned his back on the most important initiative in the history of South American football . While Conmebol approved the proposal for the 2030 World Cup to be played with 64 National Teams and the full group in Argentina, the Leoncito decided to ignore the initiative and oppose it. Argentina didn't send anyone to the meeting. It wasn't Milei, it wasn't the Foreign Minister, it wasn't anyone. It seems that they are only concerned with the "rescue" of the fugitives . Perhaps since the 3% rule doesn't work in FIFA, the issue is of no interest . A government that hates the Carnival of Football. Luckily they won't even make it to 2030, sorry, or 2027... Anyway," said the always controversial current treasurer of the AFA, Pablo Toviggino .
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