The FIFA Council have voted unanimously to expand the World Cup to a massive 48-team format, constituting 16 groups of 3, in time for the 2026 finals, which will most likely be held somewhere in North America.
This was President Gianni Infantino‘s favoured plan, and he has long agitated for a much bigger FIFA. Well, he got his wish. The planned 48-team format is massive, and will culminate in a 32-team knockout stage.
I had my doubts originally. But a @FIFAWorldCup with more countries will make it an even bigger party & more countries can aim for the top. pic.twitter.com/lbiiV8Ydtx
— Marco van Basten (@MarcoVanBasten) January 10, 2017
The six continents will find out by May how many extra places they get in this new scheme. It’s expected that Africa and Asia will likely be the big winners here, and they could nab up to 9 extra spots each.
This will nudge the number of matches in the World Cup up to 80 instead of 64, which is expected to bring an extra $1 billion revenue, which is a tidy sum by any measure. Despite the 16 extra games, FIFA is confident they can stick with 12 stadiums, which was the standard in Brazil and Russia.
This is what we’re all thinking right now:
48 teams in the next World Cup? I have immediately bought shares in Panini.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) January 10, 2017
Source: SBS.
Photo: Getty Images / Cameron Spencer.
