Unveiling the longest World Cup in American history

According to Fars news agency, the 2026 World Cup is going to increase from 32 teams to 48 teams for the first time. Because of this, FIFA is ready for fundamental changes in the format of the World Cup.

In this regard, the newspaper “nytimes” reported that the 2026 World Cup in North America is going to grow more because FIFA leaders were ready to agree to a change in the format of the tournament, which will add 24 more games to the tournament.

This change will result in the 2026 World Cup being played this way: 48 teams will have to play 104 matches in 40 days in three countries. The champion and runner-up of the World Cup each play 8 games instead of the 7 games they play in the previous seasons.

It is expected that this format will be approved after the meeting of the governing council of FIFA, the world governing body of football and the organizer of the World Cup.

The total of 104 World Cup games will be a significant increase from previous editions, which had 40 more games than last year’s tournament in Qatar.

The change also forces organizers to specify more dates in the 16 cities they have chosen to host the World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup – co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada – will be the first 48-team World Cup, expanding from the current 32-nation tournament that has been held since 1998.

The heads of the six confederations met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Monday night, and none had objections to the proposed format, according to people familiar with the matter. Official approval is expected today after a meeting where FIFA’s 36-member council will similarly give the green light to the changes.

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