World Cup with 48 teams is approved by 38% of Brazilians and disapproved by 37%

In the most recent Datafolha survey, 38% of respondents considered the change positive (21% thought the model was much better and 17% said it was a little better). 37% disliked the innovation (24% saw it as much worse, and 13%, as a little worse).

The survey was carried out on the 22nd and 23rd of July. 2,004 people aged 16 or over were interviewed in 139 municipalities in the five regions of Brazil. The margin of error is two percentage points, plus or minus, within the 95% confidence level.

What is noteworthy is the fact that men, in general, appreciated the novelty much more than women. There was 47% approval among them (for 29%, much better; for 18%, a little better). There was 29% approval among them (for 13%, much better; for 16%, a little better). When considering gender, the margin of error is three percentage points.

The approval that seems to matter to the president of FIFA (International Football Federation), Gianni Infantino, is that of the federations that will vote in his bid for re-election in March. He adopted an aggressive revenue expansion model that is politically based on distributing part of the pie.

The Cape Verde federation -as well as a number of others that dream of success similar to that achieved by it in 2026- has as many votes as the five-time champion Brazil: one. The expansion of the World Cup, in this way, is more than a football idea. It is a maneuver in search of maintaining those who have been in power since 2016.

"The competition with 48 teams was a huge success. They all played at a high level. Teams from all continents scored goals and won at least one point", said Infantino.

"Nine out of ten African teams reached the knockout stage. In the previous World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa. This just shows how important it is to include all teams, to give them this opportunity," he added.

According to the director, a new expansion, now to 64 teams, will be discussed for the next World Cup. And it helps that the competition will turn one hundred years old in 2030, in a commemorative edition.

According to the originally established schedule, there would be three games in South America, where the 1930 dispute took place. Apart from these matches - one in Uruguay, one in Paraguay and one in Argentina -, the rest would be divided between Spain, Portugal and Morocco. But Infantino wants more.

"When organizing a World Cup, it is important to organize it for the whole world, not just Europe and South America, but effectively the whole world. Every nation should have the right to dream of participating in the tournament," he said.

"You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high and getting higher all over the world. If you don't give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they won't have the incentive to keep improving."