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The 2026 World Cup, hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, was already set to be the largest in the tournament's history with 48 teams, but it will now also be the longest.
FIFA has confirmed a new format for the 2026 World Cup, extending the tournament to 104 games over an expected 39 days.
The decision was made at a meeting of the FIFA Council in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, where world football's top officials had gathered for their annual congress on Thursday.
The 2026 World Cup, hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, was already set to be the largest in the tournament's history with 48 teams, but it will now also be the longest.
The original plan was to have 16 groups of three, with the top two progressing to a 32-team knockout competition.
It means teams reaching the final will now have to play eight matches, rather than the seven played by Qatar 2022 finalists Argentina and France.
However, that format would have involved 80 games, losing the excitement of simultaneous final round group-stage games and increasing the likelihood of increasing the chance of the two teams in the last game colluding to engineer the result they need.
The most memorable example of the latter, the so-called “Disgrace of Gijon”, took place at the 1982 World Cup in Gijon, when West Germany and Austria effectively agreed on a 1-0 win for the Germans, as that was good enough for both to advance at Algeria’s expense.
To address these issues, the new format features 12 groups of four, with the top two teams and the eight best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout rounds.
The tournament will maintain its "footprint" of 56 days, 16 days before it starts, and 39 days of competition.
The extra week of matches will be accommodated by reducing the pre-tournament release period from 23 days to 16. This is slightly shorter than previous summer tournaments but twice as long as players were given to prepare for the World Cup in Qatar.
While the new format offers more opportunities for teams to compete, some have raised concerns about player fatigue and the impact on the quality of football. FIFA officials have reassured fans and players that they are taking steps to address these concerns, including scheduling matches to ensure adequate rest time for players.
The allocation of games between the three host nations has not yet been announced, as the original format had the United States hosting 60 games, while Canada and Mexico were set to host 10 each.
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