Zurich, March 15 (BNA): The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) said before the congress convened in Kigali, Rwanda, that the 2026 World Cup will witness 104 matches instead of the traditional 64 matches due to the expanded coordination with the participation of 48 teams.
The 2026 edition, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be the first edition of the quadrennial tournament with 48 teams participating. The final will be held on July 19, according to Reuters.
The new format will also continue to draw four teams into a group after a proposal for 16 groups of three was dropped due to collusion concerns in the final group match. However, the number of groups will increase from eight to 12.
The original plan for the 2026 edition included a total of 80 matches, but the decision to increase the number of matches to 104 matches was approved by the FIFA Council at a meeting on Tuesday.
Traditionally, the top two teams from each group advance to the round of 16, but the 2026 edition will also feature the eight best third-placed teams move on to the knockout round of 32.
“The FIFA Council has unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the format of the 2026 World Cup,” FIFA said.
“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all teams play at least three matches, with balanced rest time between opposing teams.”
The 32-team FIFA World Cup, which was held in Qatar last year, saw a total of 64 matches in 29 days. The last time Mexico (1986) and the United States (1994) hosted the World Cup, there were only 24 teams.
The tournament has featured 32 teams since the 1998 edition, including eight groups of four, and each of the finalists played seven matches. But the teams that make it to the top in 2026 will now play eight matches in total.
Club competitions
FIFA said that the 32-team Club World Cup will be held every four years starting in June 2025, confirming the announcement made by its president Gianni Infantino in Qatar last year.
The Confederation champions from 2021 to 2024 will be eligible to play in the new Club World Cup, which means that Chelsea and Real Madrid have already qualified.
If either club wins the Champions League again, a club ranking calculation based on sporting criteria will be used to determine which other team will qualify.
The current edition of the FIFA Club World Cup – an annual seven-team competition – will be discontinued after 2023, with a new annual club competition approved from 2024.
“This competition will see the champions of the main club competitions from all confederations and conclude with a final to be played on neutral ground, between the winner of the UEFA Champions League and the winner of the intercontinental matches between the other confederations,” FIFA said.
Fifa said clubs will have to release players for the World Cup from May 25, 2026 unless they are in a major final – such as the Champions League final – when clubs will have until May 30 to allow players to join their national teams.
“With 56 days, the total number of rest, release and tournament days remains identical to the 2010, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups,” FIFA added.
A newly organized international calendar with nine-day windows in March and June for two matches each, and a 16-day window for four matches in September and October, followed by another nine-day window for two matches in November, was also approved.
‘Exhaustion and exhaustion’
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) said they were concerned about “physical fatigue and mental exhaustion” due to the busy schedule with chief executive Mahita Mulango saying the football calendar needed a “total reset”.
“The expanded World Cup format announced for 2026 means, once again, that more matches are being forced into an already crowded schedule,” he said.
The FIFPro said they were encouraged to see FIFA prioritize concerns such as the need for “at least 72 hours between matches, a mandatory day off every week and an annual rest period”.
“However, it is very difficult to see how this aligns with the ever-expanding domestic and international calendar,” added Molango.
“We know that the current workload that players face has an ongoing impact on their well-being… We simply cannot push them to break away.”