It’s hard to grasp the scale of the 2026 World Cup. The concept of a 48-team tournament with a round of 32 and a Group L has never been anything more than a feverish cheese dream for Gianni Infantino. Until now.
There will be more group stage games in 2026 than there were total matches at any previous World Cup. Widening the pool of participants so drastically has let plenty more traditional minnows sneak into the net. Three nations outside the top 80 of FIFA’s world rankings find themselves at this summer’s competition—which still wasn’t big enough to include Italy.
