World Cup 2026 Format Change

World Cup 2026 Format Change – The tournament will take place from june 11 to july 19, 2026. It will be the 23rd edition of the tournament. The 2026 fifa world cup marks a historic shift in football as it expands to include 48 teams, up from the previous 32. The 2026 fifa world cup, marketed as fifa world cup 26, [2] will be the 23rd fifa world cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of fifa.

With the 2026 world cup coming to the united states, canada, and mexico, fifa has confirmed that it will expand the number of teams at the tournament and change the format. The competition in the united states, mexico and canada was due to feature 16 groups of three because the. This is set to be the first expansion and format change since 1998. The 2026 fifa men's world cup takes place from june 11 to july 19, 2026.

World Cup 2026 Format Change

With the inclusion of 48 teams, the latest fifa world cup 2026 format promises to be the most inclusive and diverse world cup in history. This dramatic change aims to increase global representation, making the tournament more inclusive, particularly for nations from africa, asia, and oceania—regions that have historically struggled to qualify. That means more content for television broadcasters and more tickets to sell, increasing revenue for fifa.

This increase will undoubtedly bring more excitement and diversity to the tournament. Fifa approved a change that set the format for the largest and longest championship in soccer history, and reversed course on discussions to sort the record 48 teams into groups of three. The 2026 world cup group stage format was changed to 12 groups of four teams from 16 groups of three teams by fifa’s council.

The change means there will be 104 matches, double the 52 at the 1994 world cup in the u.s., up from the 64 at each tournament from 1998 through 2022 and an increase from the 80 under the original 2026 format. The change means there will be 104.

When and where is the 2026 World Cup? What is the format? NBC Sports