The 2026 World Cup is set to become even bigger and better than before, with 104 matches being held instead of the usual 64 games owing to the expanded format with 48 teams taking part, as announced by FIFA Tuesday before their Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 2026 edition, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will be the first edition of the quadrennial tournament, where 48 teams are participating. The final will be held on July 19.
The new format will also stick to drawing four teams in a group after a proposal for 16 groups of three was shot down over fears of conspiracy in the final group game. However, the number of groups will increase from eight to 12.
The original plan for the 2026 edition had 80 matches, but FIFA's council approved the decision to increase the number of games to 104 at a meeting on Tuesday.
Traditionally the top two teams from each group advance to the last 16, but the 2026 edition will also have the eight best third-placed teams moving into the knockout round of 32.
"The FIFA Council unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the FIFA World Cup 2026 competition format," FIFA said.
"The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play at least three matches while providing balanced rest time between competing teams."
The 32-team World Cup in Qatar last year had 64 matches completed in 29 days. The last time Mexico (1986) and the U.S. (1994) hosted a World Cup, and there were only 24 teams.
The tournament has had 32 teams since 1998, with eight groups of four and the finalists playing seven games each. But teams reaching the summit clash in 2026 will now play eight matches.
FIFA said a 32-team Club World Cup will be played every four years from June 2025, confirming the announcement made by its president Gianni Infantino in Qatar last year.
Confederation champions from 2021-2024 will be eligible to play in the new Club World Cup, which means Chelsea and Real Madrid have already qualified.
Should either club win the Champions League again, a club ranking calculation based on sporting criteria will determine which other team will qualify.
The current version of the FIFA Club World Cup – an annual competition with seven teams – will be discontinued after 2023, with a new yearly club competition approved in 2024.
"This competition will feature the champions of the premier club competitions of all confederations and conclude with a final to be played at a neutral venue, between the winner of the UEFA Champions League and the winner of intercontinental play-offs between the other confederations," FIFA said.
FIFA said clubs will have to release players for the World Cup from May 25, 2026, unless they are in a major final – such as the Champions League showpiece – for which clubs will have until May 30 to allow players to join their national teams.
"With 56 days, the total number of rest, release, and tournament days remain identical to 2010, 2014, and 2018 FIFA World Cup editions," FIFA added.
A newly structured international calendar was also approved with nine-day windows in March and June for two games each, a 16-day window for four matches in September-October, and another nine-day two-match window in November.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) said they were worried about "physical fatigue and mental burnout" due to the packed schedule, with its CEO Maheta Molango saying the football calendar needs a "complete reset."
"The expanded World Cup format being announced for 2026 means that, yet again, more games are being forced into an already overcrowded schedule," he said.
The PFA said they were encouraged to see FIFA had prioritized concerns such as needing a "minimum of 72 hours between games, a mandatory day off each week and an annual rest period."
"However, it's tough to see how that aligns with the constant expansion of the domestic and international calendar," Molango added.
"We know that the current workload players face has an ongoing impact on their well-being ... We can't simply push them until they break."
