(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-13 16:26

Women's World Cup might field 24 teams in the 2011 finals rather than nowadays 16, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told media in Wuhan, Hubei Province on Tuesday.

"We are considering to change the format of women's world cup, bringing 24 teams into the finals," said the boss of the world soccer governing body at a press conference ahead of the opening match of Group B pit the United States and DPR Korea.

FIFA's executive committee will decide on October 31 whether to expand the tournament from 16 teams to 24, as well as the hosting rights for 2011 with Germany, Canada, Australia and Peru listing up the candidates, according to Blatter.

"I think all the candidates are ready to make 24-team finals," he added.

The opening match of the just unveiled World Cup on Monday saw Germany dominat all through, winning 11-0 against South American champions Argentina, which embarrassed the FIFA boss but did not shake his mind on expanding the World Cup finals.

"Definitely I didn't like this result," he said. "The team conceding 11 goals is the best team from South American. This is not good when we look forward in the future."

"This will not enhance the chances to do it (expand) , but it's only the first match," he added.

He further explained why he's favored the World Cup expansion.

"Looking to the relevant of women's football, we have realized that in all countries of the world, women can play football, and they also play football where their culture will not permit them to play in public.

"So by saying that the game is now universal, we should look at growing from 16 teams to 24 teams in order to give more countries the possibility every four years to meet with the best of women's football. For us it would be good if we could open this competition.

"If you look upon the FIFA official website, you'll see how many women are playing football. It's an impressive number of players," he added.