As expected, FIFA announced on its official website the approval of the decision to increase the number of participants in the World Cup finals.
World CupStarting from 2026, when the next world championship will take place, 48 national teams will take part in the tournament. Recall that until recently there were 32 teams at the World Cup.
It is also reported that the 48 participants in the World Cup will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each - that will be the format of the group stage of the World Cup now. Recall that initially FIFA was planning the formula of "16 groups of three teams", but then abandoned this revolutionary idea.
The top two teams in each group and the top eight teams from the third-place finishes in their groups would form the pairings for the 1/16 finals.
As a result, a total of 104 matches will be played during the World Cup.
