Fifa will right this moment affirm the 2026 World Cup would be the longest and largest in historical past.
World chiefs below President Gianni Infantino have agreed on the ultimate construction, to be rubber-stamped on the assembly of the organisation’s ruling Council in Kigali, Rwanda, The Solar reported.
It’s going to imply a match expanded from the 64 video games in Qatar to an enormous 104 break up throughout the venues in Canada, Mexico and america.
And whereas Qatar 2022 was performed over 29 days to squeeze it into the smallest doable window, the following World Cup can be performed over 39 days, a fraction over five-and-a-half weeks.
That won’t go down effectively with the golf equipment who provide the gamers, though Fifa will lower the preparation interval to a most 17 days somewhat than the 24 days specified for the final summer season World Cup in Russia in 2018.
As an alternative of the much-criticised preliminary plan of 16 teams of three groups – which noticed many specialists voice concern of potential collusion within the closing set of video games – Fifa will keep on with 4 workforce teams.
It means the highest two in every of the 12 opening teams will undergo to the knock-out part, together with the eight greatest third-placed groups.
That can see the knock-out stage beginning with the spherical of 32.
For the primary time in World Cup historical past, the winners should play EIGHT video games to raise the trophy.
The choice to develop the competitors to 48 groups for the primary time brought on controversy when it was made in 2017.
Since then, Fifa has checked out varied choices earlier than reverting to 12 teams of fours.
Concepts that have been thought-about after which rejected included penalty shoot-outs on the finish of drawn group video games and a “winner’s” bonus of the workforce topping the group staying in the identical metropolis for the opening knock-out tie.
However the drama of the ultimate group video games in Qatar, together with the unimaginable evening by which, at factors within the video games, all 4 of Spain, Japan, Germany and Costa Rica have been each going via and going residence, noticed Infantino add his weight to the brand new format.
This story was initially printed by The Solar and was reproduced with permission
