World Cup 2026: FIFA To Feature 12 Groups Of Four Teams
Category: Sports News
The expanded 2026 men’s World Cup in North America will start with 12 groups
of four teams in a change from the original planned format of 16 groups of
three, football’s world governing body FIFA announced on Tuesday.
The next World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be
the first to feature 48 teams, a sharp increase from the 32 sides at last
year’s tournament in Qatar.
READ: FIFA Suspends Chad, Pakistan From Football
“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the
teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time
between competing teams,” FIFA said.
It means that there will be
104 matches, a huge rise compared to the 64 games played in the 2022
tournament and an increase even on the original plan that the 2026 World Cup
would feature 80 matches.
FIFA’s initial plan for 2026 was for 16
groups of three teams, from which the top two countries would advance to the
last 32.
READ: FIFA Lifts Ban On Nigeria
The new decided format means the top two in each group will go through to the
knockout round along with the eight best third-placed sides.
As a
result, the finalists, and the teams finishing third and fourth, will play a
total of eight games instead of the current seven.
The decision
comes after a dramatic and entertaining group stage at the tournament in Qatar
convinced FIFA that a rethink to its original 2026 blueprint was needed.
READ: FIFA suspends Nigeria!
“The groups of four have been absolutely incredible until the last minute of
the last match,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in December.
.Tuesday’s decision was announced following a FIFA Council meeting
in the Rwandan capital Kigali, at which it confirmed the next men’s World Cup
final will be played on Sunday, July 19, 2026.
FIFA said that the
total number of days between when clubs must stop playing and release players
for international duty, and the final, would be 56, identical to the previous
three tournaments.
READ: FIFA Explains Why Nigerian Fans Were Banned From Taking Musical Instruments Into Stadium
Nevertheless the World Cup itself may be played over a longer period,
after Qatar 2022 was held over just 29 days.
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