European nations have won more than half of all World Cups. Now they’re threatening to boycott the next one

This year’s World Cup was the most profitable in FIFA’s history, just as Gianni Infantino promised. FIFA’s own figures put the 2026 tournament’s revenue at roughly $9 billion to $13 billion, well above the $11 billion FIFA had forecast before the event. Revenue across FIFA’s full 2023–2026 cycle, which includes the Club World Cup and Women’s World Cup alongside the men’s tournament, is on track to top $15 billion, which Infantino called proof the tournament had “opened a lot of doors, a lot of opportunities, a lot of possibilities.” That’s roughly double the $7.5 billion FIFA brought in during the 2022 Qatar cycle.

Now Infantino wants more. FIFA is reportedly studying whether to expand the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams. The vehicle is a plan called FIFA Forward Enterprise, announced nine days after that record-setting tournament closed, and it’s why the European contingent, which has won more World Cups than any other confederation, is now threatening to sit out the next one.

That revenue arrived with the costs falling largely on someone else. As Fortune has reported, FIFA’s contracts assigned security, transportation and stadium retrofits to host cities, while keeping the revenue from tickets, sponsorship and media for itself.

A $40 million incentive to accept

European teams have won more than half (13) of the 23 men’s World Cups played since 1930. Europe has taken four of the last five titles and seven of the last ten, including this summer’s, when Spain beat Argentina in the final. Those teams........

© Fortune