World Cup 2026: FIFA returns to four-team group format
FIFA has revised the format for the 2026 World Cup which has expanded to four-team groups.
The competition in the United States, Mexico and Canada as there are 16 groups of three as the number of teams has increased from 32 to 48.
But the success of the four-team format at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has prompted the governing body to reconsider.
The move expands the competition from a projected 80 matches to 104, including a new round of 32.
FIFA said the best two and eight third-placed teams would advance to the last 32.
“The modified format reduces the risk of collusion and ensures all teams play at least three matches, while providing balanced rest periods between competing teams,” said soccer’s world governing body.
The move was approved at a FIFA council meeting in Rwanda.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in December that the governing body was considering format changes after the group stage in Qatar included some thrilling final games.
The four-team group format, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stages, has been used since the men’s World Cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998.
The new round of 32 stage means teams will have to play eight matches to win the tournament, compared to seven at the 2022 World Cup.
FIFA approved the calendar of men’s international matches from 2025-2030 and said that “based on the new calendar, the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played on Sunday, July 19, 2026”.
He added that the “mandatory” date that clubs must release players for the tournament will begin “on May 25, 2026, after the last official club match on May 24, 2026” and that “an exception can be made for the final match of the confederation club competition. until May 30, 2026 according to FIFA approval”.
The women’s international match calendar stores six international windows per year and includes the women’s Olympic football tournament, which will take place from 25 July to 10 August 2024.
32-team Club World Cup for 2025
FIFA also approved the access list for the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held every four years from June 2025.
The team that wins the confederation’s top tournament in the “four-year period of the season ending in 2021 and 2024” will have enough places.
Europe has 12 places in the new tournament and Chelsea and Real Madrid, who will win the Champions League in 2021 and 2022, have already secured their places.
The other qualifying teams from each continent will be determined “by club ranking based on the same four-year period”.
There will be two clubs per country unless more than two teams from the same country win the confederation’s main tournament during the qualification period.
FIFA also wants to keep the club competition every year and it will be “between the UEFA Champions League winner and the winner of the intercontinental play-off between the other confederations”.
How about the players?
The players’ organization and club managers have regularly voiced concerns about the demands on the players, and FIFA set up a task force to look at the welfare of the players and “principles such as mandatory rest periods”.
“Our basic goal is to have clarity on this topic, and to have meaningful football matches while protecting the welfare of the players and recognizing that many regions need more competitive football,” said Infantino.
However, the general secretary of the Fifpro players’ union Jonas Baer-Hoffmann said that “ongoing research provides new evidence of excessive demand for elite players”.
“We are now seeing a growing awareness among players of the harmful effects of this pressure on their performance, career and personal life,” he said.
“They know that the match calendar is unsustainable, affects their mental and physical health, and leaves them exposed, and without protection, to a rapidly uncoordinated cycle of competition.”
Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chief executive Maheta Molango said: “Fundamentally, the football calendar needs a complete reset.
“The expanded format of the World Cup announced for 2026 means, once again, more games are forced into an already crowded schedule.
“It is true that FIFA has listened to players’ concerns and announced a working group to address the critical issues of congestion and player welfare.
“It is also encouraging that key concerns raised with FIFA by the PFA, such as the need for a minimum of 72 hours between games, mandatory days per week, and annual rest periods, have been prioritized.
“When Gianni Infantino came to Manchester to meet us last year, this was the change that members of the Premier League and Women’s Super League said they wanted to see.
“However, it is difficult to see how it will align with the expansion of the domestic and international calendar.
“We know that the workload our players are under now has a lasting impact on their well-being, both on and off the pitch. We can’t just push them to the point of breaking down.
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