FIFA to re-think 2026 World Cup format after drama in 2022 groups

FIFA plan to re-think the 2026 World Cup format after drama of the group stages in Qatar as officials worry 16 groups of three teams will lead to several ‘dead’ matches… while an option to split the tournament into two halves is on the table

  • The World Cup will be expanded from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 World Cup
  • However, FIFA are yet to decide on a format to accommodate the extra 16 teams
  • Eight groups of four teams delivered much drama and excitement in Qatar
  • The original plan of 16 groups of three teams for 2026 is being reconsidered
  • FIFA officials are worried this will lead to several ‘dead’ matches in the group 
  • Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

Having just delivered the most exciting group stage ever seen at a World Cup, with a tried and tested format that keeps hundreds of millions of fans enthralled, FIFA now faces the prospect of ripping it all up.

Instead, they risk a turgid fortnight of drab games and dead rubbers, plus the possibility of unwanted controversy, as they try to accommodate 48 teams at the 2026 edition in North America.

It means world football’s governing body are re-thinking the format for the next World Cup as their original plans to have 16 groups of three teams in the first phase, with two from each advancing to the next stage, now look dangerously dull, as well as potentially courting unsporting behaviour.

FIFA are reconsidering proposals for the format of the 48-team World Cup for the 2026 edition

As things stand now for 2026, when Canada, Mexico and the U.S. jointly host the World Cup, there is a risk of many ‘dead’ matches – for example if the last group game was between two teams who had already won one each and were therefore already qualified – or contrived results.

FIFA conceded earlier this year they were concerned about the possibility of contrived results where two teams could engineer a positive result for both, that would eliminate the third group team not playing. ‘It’s an issue that has been raised,’ said FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani in March.

The 2026 format has the 48 teams reduced to 32 after the group phase and then the tournament becomes a knockout affair.

The 32-team 2022 World Cup in Qatar saw the nations split in to eight separate groups of four

There was much drama with the current format in Qatar but the original plan was to scrap this in favour of 16 groups of three teams for the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico

Alternative formats are now on the table, with the FIFA Council, the organisation’s all-powerful cabinet, to decide next year.

They are, according to FIFA’s head of global football development Arsene Wenger, 12 groups of four teams, with the best third-placed teams advancing with the top two, or another option to split the World Cup into two separate halves of 24, each featuring six groups of four teams. The winner of each half would meet in the final.

Given how dramatic and exciting some of the four-team groups were concluded in Qatar, that seems a more viable proposition.

But that will mean a substantive increase in the number of games. The 32-team World Cup in Qatar has a total of 64, completed in 29 days, and, for now, the 2026 finals will be 80 games over 32 days.

However, FIFA’s head of global football development Arsene Wenger said alternative formats are on the table with officials worrying the proposed format would lead to several ‘dead games’

With four team groups, there would be 104 matches, requiring at least an extra week.

There, FIFA run the risk of tilting the delicate balance of all-consuming excitement that the World Cup has proven in Qatar into a drawn out affair that loses its lustre with the quality of entertainment diluted.

More matches, however, would mean more television rights money and as the World Cup brings in some 90% of FIFA’s revenue, its leaders will be tempted.

The World Cup in Qatar has earned £6.1billion in rights and sponsorship revenue, one billion more than for 2018 finals in Russia, FIFA said last month.




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