By John Essien
FIFA are looking at a change in format to the World Cup in 2026, with too many problems in their current plan for the first 48-team tournament, according to reports.
Initially the 2026 World Cup was expected to be made up of 16 groups of three teams, with the top two still going through, but this time to a last 32, instead of 16.
Meanwhile, Football’s ruling body are growing worried that the system could see teams play out for draws in the final group game in order to both go through, still possible in groups of four but not as likely.
According to the Sun, FIFA are now discussing moving back to four team groups, 12 of them, with the top two going through and then the eight best third placed sides.
It would mean that the format would follow a similar one to the Euros, since UEFA’s tournament had a similar expansion from 16 teams to 24 in 2016.
That change allowed Portugal to go through from their group in third place, eventually beating hosts France in the final, winning just one match in 90 minutes throughout the whole tournament.
The change would make a huge difference in the amount of games at the World Cup, with 64 matches in Qatar going up to 104 across North America.
It would also last 35 days, instead of the current 28, and see teams have to play eight matches to win the entire tournament, instead of the previous seven.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be co-hosted by three nations for the first time in the tournament’s history.
US, Canada and Mexico will hold matches, though it has not been revealed yet which matches will be played where.
