Infantino wants CWC 2029 in the USA, but local football associations are not so happy
July 14 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino is negotiating with the Donald Trump administration as the preferred country to host the second edition of the Club World Cup in 2029, which could be expanded to 48 teams from its original edition of 32 teams in 2025.
As reported in the Guardian, FIFA has held talks with US government officials for the opportunity to host the tournament. This is despite the fact that FIFA has not yet started the official tender process.
The expanded 2025 Club World Cup was awarded to the US without a competitive tender process.
Insideworldfootball’s sources say that FIFA’s desire to host the Club World Cup in the US is not shared globally among member organizations around the world who would like to see the tournament moved to a different region.
In what is becoming the main theme of the World Cup being played at the moment, the national confederations take exception to the way Infantino is using one side and in favor of his political allies in the Trump administration, saying that the process should be completely transparent and take into account the wishes of the local member associations.
While Trump may be able to manage the US, for the most part, as his personal empire, FIFA members are furious about Infantino doing the same to their organization and bringing the world’s governing body too close to American politics and Trump’s personal agenda.
Sources in North America have suggested they do not want the 2029 Club World Cup in their region and would prefer to see it hosted on another continent to allow their local leagues and regional national team competitions to develop unhindered.
They feel they need breathing space to capitalize on the success of 2026 and the newly generated support for their national teams.
The US Soccer Federation (USSF) has not made a statement about hosting the Club World Cup in 2029, but is fully involved in putting together a bid for the Women’s World Cup in 2031, with partners Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
The US-led bid is the only bid for 2031 and was originally scheduled to be sealed at the FIFA Conference in Vancouver in May this year, but was postponed after the USSF and its FIFA partners failed to get US cities to agree to all FIFA hosting terms before Congress.
FIFA will hold an Extraordinary Congress on November 30 with the most important being the approval of the US to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup and the joint bid of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for 2035.
While Infantino may want the US to host the 2029 FIFA World Cup as a cash cow, it’s unclear how much appetite there is in the US government at this point.
Last week Andrew Giuliani, Executive Director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 suggested the possibility of a World Cup of 64 teams, giving an indication that it has already been discussed by the American administration and FIFA.
He did not commit the USA to the agreement saying: “If you think this world cup can go to 64 teams, I think the United States can deal with it… Let me make sure we finish this World Cup on July 19 before we play our games in 2038 or others.”
Other countries have expressed interest, including a joint bid by Spain, Portugal and Morocco (favored by most FAs), a bid by Qatar, and reported interest from Brazil and Mexico.
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