Spain wins expanded World Cup as debate over growth lingers

Spain lifted the trophy in the first World Cup staged with 48 teams, a tournament that comprised 104 matches over five-and-a-half weeks in North America. The enlargement from a 32-team format drew a range of reactions, highlighting both gains and shortcomings from the inaugural expanded event.

The decision to increase the tournament to 48 nations was announced less than 12 months after Gianni Infantino took over from Sepp Blatter as Fifa president. Responses at the time were split. Diego Maradona said he was “delighted by Gianni’s initiative” because it allowed each country to dream of reaching the tournament, renewing their passion for football. Joachim Löw, then in charge of world champions Germany, said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to dilute the sporting value … In the long term, the quality suffers.”

Across 104 games and more than five weeks, the expanded format produced new narratives and fresh faces on the global stage while exposing widening gaps in competitive level. The larger field created additional opportunities for nations that had previously been on the fringes of qualification to appear at a finals, broadening representation at the tournament. That inclusivity was cited by some proponents as a key benefit of the change.

At the same time, the scale of the event introduced strains and unevenness that were highlighted by critics. Concerns about the dilution of competitive standards and the knock-on effects for match quality remained central to the debate that accompanied the expansion. The mixture of surprising results and one-sided contests underlined the complexity of assessing the reform purely in sporting terms.

For administrators and fans alike, the first 48-team edition offered evidence that the reform carried both notable positives and clear drawbacks. Some saw renewed national ambitions and wider engagement with the World Cup, while others pointed to the consequences of extending the field. Those tensions informed the public conversation around whether further increases in the number of participants should be contemplated.

The tournament’s outcome — Spain emerging as champions at the end of a packed schedule — supplied a concrete finish to the experiment in expansion. On the evidence of the first 48-team edition, won by Spain after 104 games across five-and-a-half weeks in North America, it’s fair to conclude Maradona and Löw both had a point. The event has left organisers with questions about how to balance access and quality if the World Cup’s format is to change again.