The organisation, which represents Europe’s leading clubs, has confirmed in a statement today that they reject the calls for the tournament to grow to as many as 48 teams.

They have sent a letter to world football's governing body outlining their reasons.

“We have to focus on the sport again,” Rummenigge, the former Germany international and current Bayern Munich chairman, said.

“Politics and commerce should not be the exclusive priority in football.

“In the interest of the fans and the players, we urge FIFA not to increase the number of World Cup participants."

The ECA had previously expressed opposition for a larger World Cup when endorsing Gianni Infantino for the FIFA Presidency.

The body’s Executive Board have today insisted the tournament should not be expanded because the current amount of matches being played by teams is “unacceptable”.

This would not be an issue under Infantino’s latest proposal, which would see the 2026 competition feature 16 groups of three.

It would involve the nation which finishes bottom in each going home after playing two matches.

The 32 successful nations would then feature in a straight knockout format and FIFA are hopeful the new proposal for a 48-team structure would be easier for fans to understand.

Participating countries would also only play a maximum of seven matches, as is the case in the current format, reducing the potential effect on club sides.

“The number of games being played throughout the year has already reached an unacceptable level, in particular for national team players,” the statement read.

“The ECA Executive Board therefore rejects such initiative and has today sent a letter to Gianni Infantino calling on FIFA not to increase the number of participants at future World Cups.”

Several options for a possible expansion of FIFA’s quadrennial showpiece have been mooted, including two 40-team formats, two 48-team tournaments and keeping its current make up of 32 countries.

The other 48-team option would see the introduction of a play-off round before the main group stage.

Sixteen teams would exit at the preliminary phase, with the remaining 32 proceeding to the usual group and knockout stage structure.

Plans to stage an event involving 40 nations, with countries split into eight groups of five or ten groups of four - where the group winners and the six best runners-up would progress - are also being considered.

FIFA agreed to look into the possible expansion to either 40 or 48 teams at their next Council meeting, due to be held in Zurich in January, in October.

A decision is likely to be made at the meeting, with any changes to the World Cup taking effect from the 2026 competition onwards.