Federation Internationale de Football Association approves 48-team World Cup starting in 2026

FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during a press briefing on Tuesday at the governing body’s headquarters in Zurich. The top two from each group advance to the knock-out stages.

The tournament format will be 16 groups of three sides each followed by a 32-team knockout phase. If the new three-team group stage merely weeds out the same 16 teams that have gained entry from the rule change, then it is utterly pointless. However, that proposal has yet to be confirmed. “I certainly wouldn’t welcome that change”, Barrett added.

There are two ways to look at it.

“But they would do so having improved and gained experience on the pitch, which would be added to the economic rewards of appearing at the finals – including further investment in their footballing infrastructure”. The 2026 edition will feature 80 soccer games.

The increase in the number of teams will not affect the length of the tournament, which will still be completed within 32 days, while a country will still only play a maximum of seven games. That’s a lot of football matches in a month. “Whoever qualifies from Oceania gets into a group and you can settle into that group a bit more so it is great news for Oceania and great news for New Zealand Football”. Penalty shootouts may be used as tie-breakers in the group games. But walking into the World Cup isn’t so bad. In theory, at least. The expanded tournament is also an excellent marketing strategy.

The decision marks a major coup for the body’s president Gianni Infantino who has made enlarging football’s showcase event the centrepiece of his young administration. And that could mean more excitement for spectators and viewers at home.

That contest, won by Uruguay, had just 13 countries. A 48-team World Cup “will only add to the ennui around the global game”, he argues.

Euro 2016 was not a patch on any of the five previous European Championships and the World Cup is going to be ruined because of this decision. That last point is significant as the leading European clubs have opposed any move to increase the number of games the top nations play.

“All the other teams started to believe in their chance to qualify and play matches with a different mindset that they could qualify”.

General Secretary Kushal Das reacts to FIFA’s approval to expand its quadrennial showpiece event.

“This gives us a fighting chance”.

The new World Cup format will consist of 16 groups of three, rather than eight groups of four.

Federation Internationale de Football Association president Infantino says he wants more countries to experience the “joy” of participating in a World Cup, a privilege that only a few nations can realistically aspire to.

FIFA’s six continents should find out in May how many extra places they will each get. Meanwhile, the Americans are now dead last in qualifying for 2018.

South America now have 4.5 qualifiers (four automatic qualification spots and a play-off spot). North American representation will rise from 3.5 to 6.5. Go watch the Champions League if you want to see all the best players playing together. And with the hosts of this tournament likely to be some combination of Canada, Mexico and the United States, there will be plenty of stadiums in the mix.

What does all this mean for the Republic of Ireland?

When asked a year ago what he thought of the plan, the president of the Nigerian football association Amaju Pinnick said, “So far everybody’s excited about it”. Although we wouldn’t be surprised if Robbie Keane is manager.

Traditionally, the allocation of spots at the World Cup has been decided based on performances at past tournaments.