It looks increasingly likely the World Cup Finals will be contested by 40 or 48 countries in 2026, after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday there was a 'positive' feeling towards an expansion among councillors.
Infantino, who favours a larger tournament, does not believe extra teams will dilute the event's quality, citing Costa Rica's progression from their World Cup group in 2014 while England and Italy were knocked out.
A decision will be made at the FIFA council meeting in January, with all the analysis concentrating on 40- and 48-team formats.
One proposal is 10 groups of four with the winners plus the six best runners-up progressing to the round of 16.