(Football news) The 2026 World Cup is expected to be the biggest one yet featuring 48 teams in 16 groups of three across the United States, Canada and Mexico. However, given the success of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar featuring the traditional format, FIFA are reconsidering moving on to the new structure and reverting back to four teams per group with confirmation of the format being made public after FIFA’s meeting in Rwanda on 16th March.

Various reports indicate that there is an agreement across all parties that the four-team format should be retained as long as it does not extend the blueprint of the competition which includes the preparation time before the World Cup begins. Speaking to FT Business of Football Summit, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani said “Groups of three sounded great but there are some issues. Is it right that you qualify for a World Cup and a third of teams go home after two games? We do have to be responsible. There was a footprint of days for 2014 and 2018 and we can’t go over that. We can’t have a three-month World Cup.”

One of the areas of concern is that changing the format to four teams per group will expand the projected matches played from 80 to 104. Moreover, if more matches are played, it will also extend the tournament’s duration, which means players will have less time to prepare for the World Cup. The change in format also brings about environmental concerns as more matches will mean more travelling across three countries.

“The match schedule is very important,” Victor Montaglian said. “You can’t have teams travelling from New York to Los Angeles. Teams will play in pods. There will be a group playing out of Boston, Philadelphia and New York. Another one in Vancouver and Seattle and another in LA and San Francisco. There are other strategies that have to be applied as well so we adhere to what is put in the bid.”

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