World Cup Expansion to 48 Teams (Update: FIFA Council Agrees 2026 Slot Allocation)

Group stages that have 3 teams per group are not shorter. The games are just more spread-out. That's a big part of why they suck.

 

It's obvious the reason for the expansion is for countries with big populations to be more likely to qualify, especially China and India. Switzerland vs Peru could be intriguing depending on their group. Jamaica vs India will likely never be, and there will be many more matchups of that quality with the expansion. It's an all around bad idea.

 

Nah.
Germany beating up on Liechtenstein is virtually meaningless.
Mexico beating up on Antigua and Barbuda is virtually meaningless

South American matches will never, ever be meaningless.

 

India is 40 years away from qualifying. They haven't won any of their qualifying matches for 2022 so far.

 

You'll see more one-sided games in a 24 team Women's WC or a 32 team FIBA WC or a 16 team Rugby WC then you'll see at a 48 team World Cup. Every time I've expected to see a team get outclassed they've proven me wrong, like T&T (2006 WC) or New Zealand (2010 WC). But if you're going to expand and risk blowouts, there should be a long-term strategy behind it. Soccer is so well-established with domestic leagues in every country, international club competitions, and continental championships that FIFA can leverage an expanded WC to sustain the momentum of growth until the next WC cycle in ways that other sports can't. And as you mentioned there are people that just enjoy watching underdogs even if there's a potential for a lopsided score. I'll watch UEFA minnows play against bigger teams hoping to see a surprise, just like people watch March Madness for the upsets. I watched Curacao fully expecting them to be trounced at the Gold Cup and they were a pleasant surprise.

Someone's been paying attention! I'd bet there's only going to be one team outside the top 80 ranked countries at the World Cup: the Oceania representative. If it was a real bet I'd say only one team outside the top 100.

 

I'd agree that the expanded Asian Cup was designed so teams like India and Philippines could qualify. The expanded World Cup is more for China. You have to crawl before you can walk.

 

IIRC, the ECA did criticise the ridiculous decision to expand the Euro Cup to 24 teams when it was announced.

 

It also flies in the face of what competitive sports and tournaments are about, in this case the World Cup Finals.

Every team has an opportunity to qualify for the big show. If they don't, they don't. That's how it goes. Expanding the World Cup to include so many bad teams ruins the entire qualifying process and cheapens what it means to play in the WC. Viewership is probably going to dip for the early rounds because most groups will be bygone conclusions.

The "let's include everyone" mindset is irritating to people who appreciate high level competition.

 

???

 

I'd like to see the Indian fans be able to bring dholaks and other Indian musical instruments into the stadium. Imagine a game against South Africa and their vuvuzela-blowing fans. The game would almost take on a secondary importance.

Not sure what you're questioning. UEFA, AFC, and CAF have all moved to 24 team tournaments (6 groups of 4). The four top 3rd placed teams move on to the 16 team knockout round. Usually three points is enough, meaning these teams typically have two losses in the group stage. Three draws would also get a team through, which is how Portugal advanced and ultimately won UEFA Euro 2016. It's a poor system. FIFA will use 16 groups of three for the 48 team World Cup rather than 12 groups of 4 which would reward two-loss teams.

Can you name one current competition in any sport that would fit this description? Would you prefer an exclusive 8 team tournament only involving the countries that have won the 21 previous World Cups?

 

Yes we do.

The West Indies cricket team, which incorporates Jamaica, has a history of discrimination against players of Indian origin, primarily Indo-Guyanese.

I assume that's been talked but I haven't been following cricket for about 2 decades.

 

China are most likely to still miss out on the WC even with 8 AFC teams qualifying, based on recent qualifying cycles in AFC.

 

I agree it’s a poor system.
I was questioning your phrase “positive results”.

 

I don't like the system for 2026 if it were 12 groups of 4 I'd be more in favor. Hopefully they make the tweak for 2030. I wouldn't be suprised if eventually probably the earliest would be 2038 that we move to 64.

 

Possible allocation for a 64 team cup?

1 HOST - If more than one host the hosts take slots from home confederation.
25 Europe - Qualifying could be 10 groups with group winners and runners up advancing to World Cup with all 10 3rd place teams playing in 2 legged playoffs for the last five slots in Europe.
10 Africa - Qualifying could be 5 Groups of 6 which would be 30 teams before than two legged playoffs to get into final round. Group winners and runners up advancing to World Cup.
7.5 South America - 10 teams play each other twice top 7 advance 8th goes to playoffs.
7.5 CONCACAF - Top 5 automatically advance to Final Round the other 30 are grouped into 5 groups of 6 with group winners advancing to Final Round then the ten in final round play round robin with Top 7 advancing to World Cup and 8th goes to playoffs.
1.5 Oceania Use current format, but 1st place advancing to World Cup and runners up advancing to playoffs
9.5 Asia - Final Round is two Groups of 8 with Top 4 from each group advancing to World Cup. 5th place from both groups play to determine 9th World Cup slot and loser goes to playoffs.
2 Intercontinental Playoffs Slots - Confederations with half slots playoff in 2 legged playoff. Random draw for matchups.
64 Total National Teams

 

Who the hell is going to sit through however many games it takes to accomodate 64 teams?

And at some point the clubs are going to rebel about the lack of an off-season for their best players.

 

I'd watch.

Don't care about the Clubs. They should just get rid of their domestic cups that nobody really cares about.

 

Probably about 3.5 billion people. People thought the same thing when it went from 16 to 24 then again from 24 to 32 teams. Format would be 16 Groups of 4 teams. Group winners and runners up advance to Round of 32. Knockout play from there. Its literally one more game for a player only if he plays every match and his team makes the final. Qualifying would be less taxing, so clubs would be happy about that. You'd need 4 more days than any of the World Cup's used from 1998-2018. If you can't budge on the extra 4 days, there's a format where Group winners only advance to knockout rounds and its a 7 game maximum for players playing in every match and their team reaching the final.

 

IN A 64-TEAMS WORLD CUP :

24 EUROPE
16 AMERICA
12 AFRICA
12 ASIA-OCEANIA

 

How many teams from CONMEBOL? There are only 10 to begin with.

 

I think he means a combined qualifying so theoretically all 10 South American teams can advance.

 

YES!