2022 FIFA World Cup to host 48 teams?

There is a possibility that the 2022 FIFA World Cup that is scheduled to be held in Qatar will have 48 teams. However, the plan on expanding the World Cup teams from 32 to 48, 16 more teams, was originally supposed to apply from the 2026 World Cup. It looks like FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, is keen on accelerating the expansion plan earlier than aforementioned time. He received a request from South American confederation CONMEBOL and its 10-member associations to hasten the plan of increasing the World Cup to 48 teams. Along with the number of teams, number of matches will be increased from 64 to 80.

FIFA authority will now study if the tiny Gulf nation can single handedly take the pressure of hosting additional 16 more teams and 16 more games than originally planned for the Middle East’s first World Cup.

Qatar has plans to built eight stadiums ahead of the 2022 World Cup, but if the number of team is expanded, they may require four more stadiums to be built because bidders of the 48-team 2026 tournament have been told they need 12 venues. So, Qatar might have to co-host the tournament with one of their neighbors.

Source- https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/fifa-asked-to-expand-world-cup-to-48-teams-for-qatar-in-2022/2018/04/12/25ba27fc-3e65-11e8-955b-7d2e19b79966_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.395b3bfba1b1