The FIFA Council has rubber-stamped plans to expand the World Cup in 2026 to 48 teams, adding 16 nations.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino's revamp plan received unanimous backing at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.

Delegates were asked to vote on four proposals to change the existing format or stick with the current format of 32 teams.

This is the first time since the 1998 World Cup that changes have been made to the makeup of the tournament, with the 2026 competition set to feature 16 groups of three.

The FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team #WorldCup as of 2026:

16 groups of 3 teams. Details to follow after the meeting. - FIFA Media (@fifamedia) January 10, 2017

Infantino's preferred option for change was for a 2026 competition featuring 16 groups of three, followed by a 32-team knockout, increasing the number of games from 64 to 80 but remaining inside a 32-day schedule.

"We have to shape the football World Cup of the 21st century," said Infantino, who also promised funding increases for FIFA's 211 member federations at his election last February.

"No guarantees have been made,'' Infantino said. "The only sure thing is that obviously with 48 teams everyone will have a bit more than they have today."

There were also options to have a 40-team tournament, with 10 groups of four or eight groups of five, but the only other 48-team makeup would see a 32-team one-game knockout round with the winners joining 16 already-qualified teams.

Infantino has also suggested that penalty shootouts be brought in to settle the results of all drawn games, thereby minimising the risk of teams colluding in their final group games to eliminate others from the tournament.

The Swiss has repeatedly said his main motivation for expansion is to give more nations a chance of experiencing the joy of a World Cup, which will bolster international football in developed markets and help its growth in new ones.

With 80 matches instead of 64, FIFA forecasts $1 billion extra income from broadcasting and sponsor deals, plus ticket sales, compared to the $5.5 billion forecast for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

FIFA's six continents should find out by May how many extra places they will get.

The African and Asian nations are expecting significant increases on their current allocation of four spots apiece, while UEFA wants 16 European teams in the tournament.

The other major decision regarding 2026 -- who will host the event -- is not scheduled for consideration until 2020, with a bid featuring United States, either on its own or in conjunction with one or both of Canada and Mexico, the overwhelming favourite.

The European Club Association continued its stance of opposing the move, calling it "regrettable" and claiming it had been made because of "political reasons."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.</s>48 Teams to Participate in FIFA World Cup from 2026

World football governing body, FIFA has announced that the 2026 World Cup will have 48 teams in 16 groups of 3 nations. FIFA’s ruling council on Tuesday unanimously approved an expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026, with a format of 16 groups of three nations. FIFA President, Gianni Infantino had made […]

This post was syndicated from BellaNaija. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>Zurich: International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has expanded the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 teams for the 2026 World Cup tournament.

The decision was made when FIFA's ruling council voted unanimously in favour of the change on Tuesday in Zurich, Switzerland.

The expansion means that now there will be an initial stage of 16 groups of 3 teams that will precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 when the change is made for the 2026 tournament.

The number of tournament matches will increase from 64 to 80 and the eventual winners will play only 7 games.

Also read: FIFA chief Infantino wants to bring football governing body ‘back to football'

The change marks the first World Cup expansion since 1998.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has always been vocal about the expansion after taking over as president as he wants the World Cup to be 'more inclusive'.</s>ZURICH: FIFA´s ruling council on Tuesday unanimously approved an expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026, with a format of 16 groups of three nations.

"The FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team #WorldCup as of 2026: 16 groups of 3 teams," a tweet from FIFA´s official account said.

The decision marks a major coup for the body´s president Gianni Infantino who has made enlarging football´s showcase event the centrepiece of his young administration.

The controversial proposal had faced criticism from some of the sport´s most powerful voices, including warnings that it would dilute the quality of play and overburden already exhausted players.

But Infantino had in recent weeks voiced confidence that his flagship project would be approved.

The FIFA chief has noted that a bigger tournament would beef up FIFA´s coffers.

And a confidential FIFA report seen by AFP projects a 48-team tournament would bring a cash boost of $640 million (605 million euros) above projected revenues for next year´s finals in Russia.

But Infantino has also argued that more World Cup berths would help drive football´s global growth by boosting "inclusion" in the "biggest social and sporting event".

FIFA approves 48 team World Cup for 2026 was posted in Sports of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on January 10, 2017 and was last updated on January 10, 2017. This news story is related to Latest/178124-FIFA-approves-48-team-World-Cup-for-2026/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "FIFA approves 48 team World Cup for 2026" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/178124-FIFA-approves-48-team-World-Cup-for-2026.</s>FIFA says unanimously approves 48-team World Cup as of 2026

ZURICH, Jan 10 (Reuters) - FIFA's council has unanimously backed plans by President Gianni Infantino to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from 32 starting in 2026, the global soccer body said on Tuesday.

The new format will be made up of 16 groups of three teams, FIFA said in a tweet sent by its media department, adding more details will follow after a meeting of the 37-member FIFA Council in Zurich on Tuesday.

Infantino, elected last February to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter, pledged during his campaign to enlarge the tournament - a promise designed especially to appeal to the bulk of FIFA's 211 member associations that rarely or never qualify for World Cups. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields)</s>The World Cup will expand to 48 teams from its current 32, starting with the 2026 edition of soccer's showpiece tournament, the game's governing body FIFA decided on Tuesday.

FIFA's decision making body, the FIFA Council, also decided that the format would consist of 16 groups of three teams in the group stage.

"The FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team World Cup as of 2026: 16 groups of 3 teams. Details to follow after the meeting," FIFA said on its Twitter feed.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who replaced the disgraced Sepp Blatter in February, had made World Cup expansion one of his promises during his successful electoral campaign.

Infantino had initially suggested a 40-team tournament but then added another eight to that total in October.

In making the decision, FIFA brushed aside concerns that the expansion would lower the overall standard of the tournament, and make it too long and unwieldy.

Critics, including the powerful European clubs as well as some leading coaches, have said that FIFA is tampering with a winning formula.

The last World Cup in Brazil was widely regarded as one of the best in the competition's 87-year-old history, featuring shock results, last minute drama and outstanding individual performances.</s>A motion has been passed to expand the FIFA World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

FIFA relayed the news after a vote found members were unanimously in favour of the plans, which are scheduled to take effect from 2026:

Those voting had five options to consider on the ballot. Rob Harris of the Associated Press relayed them here:

The new vote will see 48 teams in the World Cup in nine years' time, with 16 groups of three to make up the initial stage of the main draw. It means the amount of matches played in the competition will increase from 64 to 80.

Ben Rumsby of the Daily Telegraph outlined more potential radical changes that could be implemented as a result of the three-team groups, where sides would be more likely to finish deadlocked on points.

“FIFA's preferred solution to this renewed threat is a radical proposal for drawn group fixtures to be followed by a penalty shootout in order to ensure a positive result in every match—which would minimise the possibility of a result being contrived,” it’s suggested.

Prior to the vote, Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn suggested he was against the plans. “I can't influence FIFA—we’re one voice out of 211,” he told BBC Radio 5 live (h/t BBC Sport). “Our preference would be to keep the tournament smaller, because there's a quality factor here. But we'll try to influence the shape of it.”

However, as noted by BBC Sport’s Richard Conway, Argentina’s legendary World Cup-winning captain Diego Maradona expressed his support for the restructuring:

New FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been the driving force behind the expansion and said ahead of Tuesday’s result that a bolstered tournament would help “the development of football all over the world,” per BBC Sport.

Infantino also suggested that financial motives wouldn’t be a crucial factor in any result. According to the Associated Press (via ESPN FC), in-house research from world football’s governing body found that a 48-team World Cup would boost revenue by an estimated 20 per cent compared to the upcoming tournament in Russia in 2018.

Gary Lineker, the winner of the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup, made no secret of his scepticism about the extension:

While the expanded tournament will be more inclusive, will give more teams a chance to test themselves at the highest level and give supporters some different stars to view, the big concern over the new format is that quality will suffer. After all, the World Cup has long been considered the absolute peak of the sport.

Aside from the competition itself, it’ll be fascinating to see how this revamp influences qualifying, and with the battle to secure a spot in the tournament inevitably less fierce, if interest in the international game will dwindle between the major summer spectacles.</s>It seems that the FIFA World Cup will be growing in size in the near future. The FIFA council got together early on January 10, in Zurich, Germany, and decided to expand the size of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams starting in 2026. The vote was unanimous as the federation looks to include more countries in its world competition. The World Cup will be as follows: it will feature 16 groups containing three teams, and the top two teams in each group will advance into a 32-team knock-out stage that will eventually lead to a World champion. The number of games in a tournament will rise from a total of 64 games to 80. ICYMI: FIFA Council unanimously decides to expand the FIFA #WorldCup to a 48-team competition as of 2026. https://t.co/OXmqUi5Q7A pic.twitter.com/XUNbkaYWQN — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) January 10, 2017 FIFA’s announcement was quickly met with plenty of harsh criticism towards the decision. Many have emphasized that 48 teams is way too many and that 32 is the most ideal number for providing the highest quality of play. According to numerous sources such as the Globe and Mail, the “absolute quality” of play in a soccer team, by definition high-ranked teams playing each other most often, is with 32 teams; FIFA found that number citing 10,000 tournament simulations they made to reach that conclusion. So for FIFA to deviate from that ideal number has perplexed many. There was plenty of reaction from fans on social media as well, as they share the sentiment that the quality of the tournament will drop with so many teams. Germany was perhaps the country that was most upset with FIFA’s decision, as according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, there was widespread disapproval around the country. The German Football Association’s President Reinhard Grindel had also expressed his disappointment. “My big worry is that the football will be different, that the attractiveness of the game will suffer. We all like to see wide-open games. My fear is that now we will see more teams taking a defensive approach.” Germany during the 2014 World Cup Finals [Image by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images] FIFA President Gianni Infantino was the overseer of the expansion plan, and he responded to his many critics. According to the Independent, he told critics that they should be more progressive in their thinking. It’s not the 20th century any more. It’s the 21st century. Football is more than Europe and South America. Football is global. The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the most powerful tool you can have, in those nine months before qualifying and the finals. Infantino also responded directly to the Germans, who he felt were complaining because the new format may threaten them as defending World Cup champions. Even if you organize a World Cup with two teams, one of the two teams would be Germany. They are the world champions, a top team, which qualifies regularly, who win regularly. It’s obvious that whatever format you have, Germany will be there. But for many other countries, it’s a chance to qualify. It is a chance to participate in a big event. He also gave a jab at England, joking that the 48-team format would help them get into the 2026 finals. FIFA president Gianni Infantino [Image by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images] Those in favor of the expansion would point to the fact that with the involvement of more nations, there would be additional opportunities to grow the sport worldwide. According to reports shared by multiple sources including the CBC, the addition of extra teams will result in increased revenue for FIFA. The federation’s research suggests that an expanded tournament would bring in an additional $1 billion over projections of the current format. Critics could easily highlight that point as proof that the federation only made this decision to make more money rather than boost the sport’s entertainment value. Fans of the game will likely find little value in watching small soccer nations that are so under-leveled compared to stronger markets that a lopsided result is all but a guarantee. As mentioned, FIFA has already conducted their research on the ideal number of teams for “absolute quality,” so believing that this was all for the money could be a very sound conclusion. Only time will tell if people will warm up to the idea or not. [Featured Image by Jamie Squire/Getty Images]</s>ZURICH — FIFA will expand the World Cup to 48 teams, adding 16 extra nations to the 2026 tournament which is likely to be held in North America.

President Gianni Infantino's favored plan — for 16 three-team groups with the top two advancing to a round of 32 — was unanimously approved Tuesday by the FIFA Council.

It meets Infantino's election pledge of a bigger and more inclusive World Cup going beyond European and South American teams, which have won all 20 titles.

"We have to shape the football World Cup of the 21st century," said Infantino, who also promised funding increases for FIFA's 211 member federations at his election last February.

With 80 matches instead of 64, FIFA forecasts the equivalent of $1 billion extra income at current rates from broadcasting and sponsor deals, plus ticket sales, compared to $5.5 billion revenue forecast for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

FIFA projects an increased profit of $640 million despite some extra operating costs and prize money for teams.

FIFA's six continents should find out by May how many extra places they will each get.

"No guarantees have been made," Infantino said. "The only sure thing is that obviously with 48 teams everyone will have a bit more than they have today."

UEFA wants 16 European teams at the tournament, which is strongly favored to be played in North America. The CONCACAF region has not hosted the World Cup since the 1994 tournament in the United States.

American, Canadian and Mexican soccer leaders have had informal talks about a co-hosting bid.

FIFA members are scheduled to pick the host in May 2020, though there could be little competition in a process Infantino said must be "bullet-proof" to meet all integrity rules.

Africa and Asia could be winners in a bigger World Cup with up to nine places each. They had only five and four teams, respectively, at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Still, FIFA said it expects the standard of soccer to drop compared to the 32-team format locked in for the next two World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

The "absolute quality" of play, defined by high-ranked teams facing each other most often, is achieved by 32 teams, FIFA acknowledged in a research document sent to members last month. It made 10,000 tournament simulations to reach that conclusion.

Instead, Infantino wants to create fervor and months of anticipation back home in the 16 extra nations which would qualify, some probably making their World Cup debut. FIFA has pointed to Costa Rica, Wales and Iceland as examples of teams which overachieved at recent tournaments.

FIFA must break with soccer tradition to make its new format work after an original 48-team plan — with an opening playoff round sending 16 "one-and-done" teams home early — was unpopular.

Instead, three-team groups will replace the usual groups of four to create simple progress to a knockout bracket. However, it leaves one team idle for final group games and could risk collusion between the other two teams.

FIFA said it could guard against result-rigging by introducing penalty shootouts after group games that end in draws.

Infantino said a decision could wait until 2024 to agree on competition rules.

Despite the 16 extra games, FIFA believes the current maximum of stadiums needed will stay at the 12 used by Brazil and Russia. However, the demand for more training bases and hotels means developed countries would be better equipped to win future hosting contests.

North America is the strong favorite for 2026 because European and Asian countries are blocked by a FIFA rule excluding continents which hosted either of the two previous tournaments. Russia will host the World Cup next year and Qatar in 2022.

South America has been focused on a centenary tournament including original 1930 host Uruguay, and African nations are seen as lacking existing capacity and unlikely to fund multi-billion dollar infrastructure spending.</s>FIFA will expand the World Cup to 48 teams, adding 16 extra nations to the 2026 tournament which is likely to be held in North America.

President Gianni Infantino's favored plan — for 16 three-team groups with the top two advancing to a round of 32 — was unanimously approved Tuesday by the FIFA Council.

It meets Infantino's election pledge of a bigger World Cup, and should help fund promised raises for FIFA's 211 member federations.

With 80 matches instead of 64, FIFA forecasts the equivalent of $1 billion extra income at current rates from broadcasting and sponsor deals, plus ticket sales, compared to $5.5 billion revenue forecast for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

FIFA's six continents should find out by May how many extra places they will get.

UEFA wants 16 European teams at the tournament, which is strongly favored to be played in North America. The CONCACAF region has not hosted the World Cup since the 1994 tournament in the United States.

American, Canadian and Mexican soccer leaders have had initial talks about a co-hosting bid.

Africa and Asia could be winners in a bigger World Cup with up to nine places each. They had only five and four teams, respectively, at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Still, FIFA said it expects the standard of soccer to drop compared to the 32-team format locked in for the next two World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

The "absolute quality" of play, defined by high-ranked teams facing each other most often, is achieved by 32 teams, FIFA acknowledged in a research document sent to members last month. It made 10,000 tournament simulations to reach that conclusion.

FIFA must break with soccer tradition to make its new format work after an original 48-team plan — with an opening playoff round sending 16 "one-and-done" teams home early — was unpopular.

Instead, three-team groups will replace the usual groups of four to create simple progress to a knockout bracket. However, it leaves one team idle for final group games and could risk collusion between the other two teams.

FIFA said it could guard against result-rigging by introducing penalty shootouts after group games that end in draws.
The FIFA Council unanimously approves expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams starting in 2026.