Bhaichung Bhutia believes in expanding fifa world cup Increasing the field to 64 teams may improve India’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup, but there have been warnings that the move could come at the expense of the overall quality of the tournament.FIFA is considering increasing the number of teams participating in the 2030 World Cup from 48 in 2026 to 64. This proposal was formally proposed by South American football organization CONMEBOL in April last year.No decision has been made yet, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently said the governing body would review the proposal after the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Defending champions Argentina will face Spain in the final in New York on Sunday.The 2030 World Cup will be mainly hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and the opening three games will be held in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup. In 1930, Uruguay hosted the first World Cup.Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia told the Press Trust of India news agency in an interview that a larger World Cup would naturally give a country like India a better chance of reaching football’s biggest stage.“From an Indian fan’s perspective, I think having more teams is a welcome move. I’m not saying India will qualify, but if India goes from 48 to 64 teams, India will have a better chance of qualifying,” Bhutia said.At the same time, he emphasized that simply expanding the scale of the event will not solve the problems of Indian football.“But that doesn’t mean the country doesn’t have to do any work. We still have to make sure we get our systems, structures and grassroots development right and develop more players and get more kids playing football.”Bhutia said India must first build a stronger football system and follow the example of countries that continue to develop talent through youth football.“India needs to focus on the U-17, U-20 World Cup qualifiers and then the senior team, only then we can have a chance like Uzbekistan and Morocco. They (Uzbekistan, Morocco) despite being small countries, regularly qualify for the U-17 and U-20 World Cup qualifiers.”While Butia acknowledges the potential benefits for countries vying to qualify, he also believes the tournament itself could lose some of its competitive edge if the number of teams increases further.“But yes, from the perspective of fans around the world and the value and excitement of the World Cup, I think the quality of football will definitely go down if there are 64 teams in the World Cup,” the former India captain said.
