FIFA set to retain four-team groups at 2026 World Cup after success of format at Qatar 2022 – report
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ByEurosport
Published 02/03/2023 at 20:16 GMT
The four-team group stage format could be retained for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. It had been widely expected that the move from a 32-team to a 48-team tournament would see a format of 16 groups of three. However, after the success of the four-team format in Qatar, FIFA look set to retain that model. A decision could be made at FIFA’s council meeting on March 16.
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FIFA could retain the four-team group format for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The next World Cup will see the number of teams taking part expand from 32 to 48.
Arsene Wenger – head of FIFA's Football Development Department – has previously said that FIFA was working on three possibilities of competition format for the tournament. A final decision, according to FIFA’s website, will be made during 2023.
It was widely expected that FIFA would elect to divvy the teams up into 16 groups of three teams.
However, according to the BBC, FIFA’s decision could be swayed by the excitement generated by the four-group format at the 2022 World Cup, where multiple groups went down to the wire.
The BBC report that a decision could be made at FIFA’s council meeting in Rwanda on 16 March, adding that a the four-team format will likely be retained as long as it “does not extend the 'footprint' of the competition - which includes preparation time as well as the tournament itself.”
Concacaf president Victor Montagliani said at the FT Business of Football Summit that the three-team format had “some issues”.
"Groups of three sounded great but there are some issues," Montagliani said.
"Is it right that you qualify for a World Cup and a third of teams go home after two games?
"We do have to be responsible. There was a footprint of days for 2014 and 2018 and we can't go over that. We can't have a three-month World Cup."
Groups of four would increase the scheduled number of matches from 80 to 104, which would extend the duration of the tournament. This could be negated by reducing the preparation time given to teams before the event.
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