FIFA has approved a new format for the 2026 World Cup

FIFA has made approved a new format including 48 teams for the 2026 World Cup that’s going to be played in United State, Mexico and Canada.

There has been many talk about the upcoming World Cup after the one in Russia was a complete success. Now the FIFA has confirme the new format that is going to take place in the 2026 tournament.

48 teams, 12 four-team groups, is the final format decided in the council that took place in Kigali, Rwanda on Tuesday. It was previously said that the format was going to have groups of three teams, but this was ruled out due to “risk of collusion”.

This new format means that the World Cup is going to last more and we would have more games. In total there are going to be 104 matches played. As before, the first and second place of each group will pass into the next round. The thing is that this time they will pass into a round of 32.

There are many concerns still on the table as more games mean less resting time for the players. The well being of them has been one of the topics touched by the FIFA in this council. The introduction of a new welfare task force with one of its objective being to have mandatory resting periods for all players.

Club’s World Cup

On regards to the Club’s World Cup, 32 teams will conform the 2025 tournament. The new access list was approved and with it Chelsea and Real Madrid have already a spot secured. This is thanks to the fact that they won the Europa League 2021 and the Champions League 2022 respectively.

Europe has 2 spots available. 4 of those spots are going to be given to the four Champions League winners that win during the period. All the remaining spots are going to be given with a UEFA ranking system to the first eight teams on it.

Men’s and Women’s international

On the other hand, the Men’s and Women’s international match calendar were also approved during this meeting.

What are your thoughts in this new format for the World Cup?