FIFA will confirm that the 2026 World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams - with 24 more games than initially anticipated.
The World Cup, to be held in Canada, Mexico and United States, will now see 104 games played at the finals in three years time. That's 40 more games than took place in Qatar in 2022. The tournament could last up to 40 days, as first reported by the New York Times, and represents the first major change in structure since 1998.
FIFA had considered using a format with 16 pools of three teams but the drama of last year’s group stage in Qatar forced them to revisit the issue. At one point there had even been considerations to have penalty shootouts for drawn group games.
But the additional games will still cause consternation among players and coaches who believe that the relentless nature of the calendar is leading to an increase in injuries.
The mental health of players is also being highlighted, with a report last week from the Fifpro saying that more than half of the players involved in Qatar have been or believe they are at a higher risk of injury because of insufficient recovery time.
Virgil Van Dijk, who injured a hamstring in one of Liverpool's first games after the World Cup, said that the game’s decision-makers must pay closer attention to the welfare of players with no let up in a schedule that is getting “busier and busier.” He warned that players are being viewed as "robots" rather than human beings.
"It [the lack of rest pre-World Cup] caught up with me unfortunately. My body, I’m not a robot," Van Dijk said. "In order to be ready for the World Cup, I wanted to play all the games at my club and that's what I managed to do apart from one game.
The heads of the six continental federations met with FIFA’s top brass including president Gianni Infantino last night and the proposals were not met by any resistance, the New York Times added. And FIFA’s 36-member governing council will today meet to confirm the plan ahead of Thursday’s congress in Rwanda. Infantino will be ratified for another term as FIFA president during Thursday’s congress. He was the only candidate to run.
Yesterday Amnesty International said they are calling on the governing body to make progress during this week’s meetings over a “legacy fund” announced for workers and their families who helped to deliver last year’s controversial World Cup in Qatar.
The human rights group handed FIFA a petition signed by more than one million people ahead of the annual meeting of top officials which will take place in Kigali.
And Amnesty also brought “worker football shirts” to FIFA’s museum in Zurich to recognise the sacrifices made to build the World Cup.
FIFA said that it had made a record $7.5bn (£6.2bn) in revenue from the tournament, which was won by Argentina. But more than 6,000 workers are said to have died during the building of infrastructure for the tournament - a figure disputed by the local organising committee. The governing body expects to make $11bn from the 2026 cycle.
