Before the curtain fell on December 18 on the Qatar World Cup 2022, the first edition of the World Cup to be hosted by an Arab country, talk began about the new format of the competition, which will be adopted for the first time in the next edition, which will be held in 2026, and hosted by 3 countries from North America. The middle ones are: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The 23rd edition of the World Cup witnesses an expansion of the number of teams participating in the finals, which will rise from 32 teams currently - the number that was approved starting from the 1998 World Cup - to 48 teams in the 2026 edition.
On January 10, 2017, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) unanimously approved a project submitted by the current FIFA President Gianni Infantino to increase the number of teams qualified for the World Cup finals. in 3 countries.
104 matches in the World Cup
It is expected that the final version of the 2026 World Cup competition will witness a new format, as media reports confirmed that FIFA has not decided the number of groups for the first round, but it is studying the distribution of the 48 teams into 16 groups, each of which includes 3 teams, provided that the leaders and runners-up qualify for the 32nd round, which is the first The knockout rounds, then the round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final matches will be played.
🚨 FIFA are considering digging plans to make the 2026 World Cup 16 groups of 3 teams and are now considering changing the format to 12 groups of 4 teams.
(Source: Guardian) pic.twitter.com/769qGJKcKP
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) December 1, 2022
And with the adoption of the sixteen group system, and then the knockout rounds, the total number of World Cup matches will certainly increase a lot compared to what it is now (64 matches).
The specialized Spanish sports newspaper "Marca", quoting the British "Guardian", said that "FIFA" may not proceed with the decision of 16 groups, and may change its first idea to approving a very long first stage, in which the teams are divided into 12 groups, each of which consists of Including 4 teams, then 32 teams qualify for the start of the knockout stage.
And if this format is adopted in the 2026 World Cup, it will witness 104 matches in total, an increase of 40 matches from what it is in the World Cup in Qatar.
Among other changes, according to "The Athletic" website, FIFA is considering approving a penalty shootout quota in the group stage to determine the winner, and the separation in the event of equal number of points in the first round will be clearer than it is now, according to the same source.
And FIFA studies that in the event of a victory, the winner gets 3 points and the loser gets one point, but in the event of a tie, the penalty shootout takes place and the winner gets two points, while the loser in the penalty shootout gets one point.
Increase the number of seats in each continental region
The next World Cup will grant 16 additional seats to the teams qualified for the finals, and the CONCACAF region - given that 3 countries belong to that continental union - will benefit most from this increase, as there will be a total of 6 teams present in the 2026 World Cup, of which 3 teams qualified directly, which are the United States and Mexico. and Canada, 3 qualify as light qualifiers.
The rest of the seats will be distributed as follows:
Europe region:
The number of seats will be increased from 13 currently to 16 teams in 2026.
Africa region:
The "CAF" teams will get 9 direct seats, and half a seat will be contested through play-off matches.
Asia region:
You will get 8 seats directly.
CONMEBOL Region (South America):
6 direct seats, and half a seat to be contested through play-off matches.
CONCACAF Region:
3 direct seats (in addition to 3 seats for the host countries), and half a seat to be contested through play-off matches.
Oceania:
For the first time in history, you will have one direct seat, and half an additional seat to be contested through play-offs.