FIFA to re-think 2026 format as they face spoiling winning recipe

Agency :
Having just delivered the most exciting group stage ever seen at a World Cup, with a tried and tested format that keeps hundreds of millions of fans enthralled, FIFA now faces the prospect of ripping it all up.
Instead, they risk a turgid fortnight of drab games and dead rubbers, plus the possibility of unwanted controversy, as they try to accommodate 48 teams at the 2026 edition in North America.
It means world football’s governing body are re-thinking the format for the next World Cup as their original plans to have 16 groups of three teams in the first phase, with two from each advancing to the next stage, now look dangerously dull, as well as potentially courting unsporting behavior.
As things stand now for 2026, when Canada, Mexico and the US jointly host the World Cup, there is a risk of many “dead” matches – for example if the last group game was between two teams who had already won one each and were therefore already qualified – or contrived results.
FIFA conceded earlier this year they were concerned about the possibility of contrived results where two teams could engineer a positive result for both, that would eliminate the third group team not playing.