Key Highlights
1- This will be the first time we will see 48 teams in the tournament, instead of 32.
2- There will be a total of 80 matches to be played in this Fifa world cup.
3- United States will host 60 Matches
4- Canada and Mexico will host 10 matches each.
Is it confirmed that 48 teams will play in WorldCup 26? I heard all this was rumor, but if it happens man this event will not be fun like we had in these past events. A total of 80 match!
Initially the FIFA was planning for a 40 team competition. This was the plan proposed by the then FIFA Gianni Infantino (March 2016). The decision to expand the world cup to 48 teams was taken by the FIFA Council on 2017. But I am not sure about the total number of matches. Initially they were planning for 80, with 3 teams each in 16 groups. But now the format has changed, and there will be 4 teams in each of the 12 groups. So the total number of matches are going to go up to 104. Finalists will play a total of 8 matches.
They decided to change the format to slightly different from what Infantino proposed because if there were only three teams in a group, there are more chance for two teams to make an silent agreement to help each other to pass the group stage. The proposed format was that all groups consist of three teams and that two of them advance to the next round.
Personally I don't like the fact that there will be more teams in the next World Cup. What's the point to bring more teams to the World Cup? It will result in more poor games that will be unwatchable just like it was with games when Qatar played in this World Cup. It's nonsense to me...