FIFA proposals to expand World Cup finals to 48 teams slammed by former England captain Terry Butcher: 'It's pants. I have never heard anything so ludicrous in my life'

Controversial plans to expand the World Cup finals to 48 teams were slammed as ‘ludicrous’ on Tuesday. 

FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to beef up the tournament by adding 16 teams to the current 32-nation format and the proposal will be discussed this month at a meeting of the FIFA Council. If successful it would see almost a quarter of FIFA’s 211 member nations taking part from the 2026 competition.

The radical plans, announced in Colombia this week by Infantino, would put 32 teams in a preliminary knockout round in the host country. The 16 winners would then join 16 seeded teams in a group stage.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to expand the World Cup from 32 teams to 48

Infantino's plans would see almost a quarter of FIFA’s 211 member nations taking part

Former England manager Graham Taylor said: ‘I’m not impressed with it. It doesn’t feel like a good idea to me. We want to preserve the status of the competition as one for the best footballing nations.

‘A lot of times a desire to make money is behind these things. I don’t know if that is the case here, but it feels like the wrong idea.

‘The World Cup is, and should be, about the best nations qualifying and then facing each other. For that reason the numbers should be kept to a minimum.’

Terry Butcher, who played for England at three World Cups and was captain when they reached the semi-finals in 1990, labelled the plans as ‘ridiculous’.

‘It is pants,’ the former defender told Sky Sports. ‘I have never heard anything so ludicrous in my life. I know it is to try to get more teams involved, as it was in the European Championship, but I find this whole thing bizarre. You are tinkering with something you needn’t tinker with.

‘It is the World Cup for goodness sake, possibly the greatest sporting event ever. One match winner-takes-all, you are in or you are out.’

Former England captain Terry Butcher has hit out at the proposals: ‘It is pants'

Graham Taylor (left) is also opposed to expanding the biggest tournament in the world

Germany boss Joachim Low also opposes the expansion, which would place a significant demand on the host nation but would prove popular with smaller countries aiming for the biggest stage. 

Low said: ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea to dilute the sporting value. We must be clear that, in the long term, the quality suffers. We must not overdo it.’

Despite the general opposition to the plans, Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee said: ‘I would be in favour. The format this time round is pretty difficult and I think it was shown in the Euros with teams like Iceland what a fantastic contribution they can make. Even if they are not of the quality of Spain and Germany they still made a contribution and made the competition a success.’

Germany boss Joachim Low says the World Cup must never be diluted in terms of quality