The mooted expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 has been put on hold until 2026 largely due to the current situation in the Middle East. Fifa President Gianni Infantino announced the feasibility study last October, but given that Qatar would have struggled to provide the additional venues and the alternative of splitting it between other countries is untenable due to tensions, the move will now have to wait until 2026 which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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Qatar is currently being blockaded by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and thus the only alternative co-hosts were Kuwait & Oman, neither of which were suitable. In any event, even if the FIFA president had managed to wave a magic wand and got the blockading countries to agree on the proposal the backlash from human rights campaigners particularly against Saudi Arabia who are embroiled in the bloody Yemen Civil War, and are still reeling from the Jamal Khashoggi Murder would have blighted the games. Using the UAE would probably unleash some backlash also.
Fifa President Infantino has been a strong advocate of the expansion indicating the World Cup needs to be “more inclusive” and not just about Europe and the Americas. In 2022 these two regions could have as many as 22 of the 32 places, and Oceania may not have any at all. The Middle East will only have Qatar as they are hosts.
2026 World Cup Format
The expansion to 48 teams in 2026 will involve an initial group stage with 16 groups of three teams followed by a 32 team knockout stage. This will increase the number of tournament matches to 80, (previously 64), but the eventual winners will only still play seven games due to the smaller qualifying groups. The tournament will take 32 days which is a bit rushed meaning a lot of games will be held each day in the early stages, however, this was needed to appease the powerful European clubs, who objected to reform probably as it would interfere with their lucrative off-season tours.
