The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) is considering adopting penalty kicks in the group stage of the next edition of the World Cup, which will be held in 2026, in the event that the match ends in a tie.

According to the American “The Athletic” website, FIFA is studying the adoption of penalty kicks in the first round matches, starting from the next edition of the World Cup hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.

Penalties before a match is radical enough but the prospect of a shootout takes place before the fixture begins jarring.

Bonus points for drawn matches all feel a bit EFL Trophy, too.

Perhaps we should avoid attempting to reinvent the wheel.

📝 @PJBuckingham

— The Athletic |

Football (@TheAthleticFC) November 30, 2022

So far, FIFA has not yet determined the format of the next edition of the World Cup, which will witness the participation of 48 teams for the first time instead of the current 32.

Any form of the World Cup 48 teams?

The source suggested that the World Cup, which will take place 4 years from now, may witness the adoption of a system of 16 groups in the first round, each consisting of 3 teams, provided that the leader and his runner-up from the 16 groups qualify for the knockout round, that is, the 16th round.

The FIFA Council unanimously approved this new format of the tournament, but according to the French “RMC” website, the project to adopt 12 groups, each consisting of 4 teams, is being discussed more and more behind the scenes of FIFA and may be approved.

Van Basten, director of technical development at FIFA, was the first to raise the project to adopt penalty kicks in the group stage (Reuters)

Marco van Basten, the former star of the Netherlands national team and the current director of technical development in the International Federation, had proposed the idea of ​​penalty kicks in the group stage in January 2017, saying that "penalty kicks could be an option for tournaments that include groups of 3 teams." .

Van Basten said, "The calculations of weighting one team over another in the event of equal points are still difficult and complex in groups that include 3 teams, and for example in the case of a 0-0 tie and a 1-0 victory, there is a high probability that all three teams will be equal in Points and goals in the end, and here penalty kicks may become a solution to get out of these complications.

In order to avoid tampering and arranging the results in advance between the two teams, the International Federation of Football Associations decided since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico that the matches of the last round of group matches take place at the same time to reduce cases of collusion between the teams.

FIFA's decision came after the scandal of the Gijon stadium in Spain in the 1982 World Cup, when the Algerian national team paid the price for West Germany's victory over Austria (1-0), a result that qualified the European teams and excluded Algeria.