United States: FIFA, football’s world governing body, has confirmed that the 2026 World Cup will have 104 matches instead of the typical 64 due to its expanded format.

According to the reports, the tournament due to take place in North America will expand from 32 to 48 teams. It will consist of 12 groups of four teams each, a change from the original planned format of 16 groups of three.

“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches while providing balanced rest time between competing teams,” FIFA stated ahead of its congress in Kigali, Rwanda.

The 16 host cities of the 2026 World Cup, including 11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada, now have 24 extra games to stage on top of the 80 they already had for the inaugural 48-team tournament.

The confirmed format means the top two nations in each group will go through to the knockout round along with the eight best third-place teams. Thus, the finalists and the teams finishing third and fourth will play a total of eight games instead of the current seven.

The last time either Mexico (in 1986) or the United States (in 1994) hosted a World Cup, there were only 24 teams.

In addition, FIFA confirmed that a 32-team Club World Cup will be played every four years, starting in June 2025, which was an announcement made by FIFA President Mr. Gianni Infantino in Qatar.

The current version, an annual competition with seven teams, will be discontinued after 2023.

FIFA further plans to create another competition, starting annually in 2024, for continental champions.

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