"A proposal to analyze a 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a FIFA Council member in the 'miscellaneous' agenda item near the end of the FIFA Council meeting held on March 5, 2025," a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters.

"The idea was acknowledged as FIFA has a duty to analyze any proposal from one of its Council members."

Earlier on Thursday, The New York Times said the proposal was made by Ignacio Alonso, a delegate from Uruguay.

The newspaper, which did not name its sources, said the proposal was met with "stunned silence" by the participants.

It added that according to three people in the meeting, "FIFA was likely to be guided by financial and political benefits as much as sporting ones when it came to taking a decision on the matter."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino "acknowledged the proposal and said it should be analyzed more closely," The New York Times added, according to "four people with direct knowledge of the discussions."