Breaking… FIFA World Cup to be contested by 48 Teams

The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) on Tuesday voted to expand the World Cup from its current format of 32 teams to 48 teams.

There were five proposals on the table, from which FIFA’s 37-member council voted unanimously to increase the tournament to 48 nations – a plan that was led by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The expansion will kick in from the 2026 World Cup, and the new format will see 16 groups of three countries, with the top two advancing to the knockout round, as number of games will also increase from 64 to 80.

Read also: Ronaldo wins FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year

Though it has not been decided, it’s likely that the bulk of the additional 16 country spots will go to the continents of Africa and Asia, while Europe could get an additional three places on top of its current 13.

But in spite of the expansion, the tournament will still last 32 days, and no team will play more than seven matches – as is the case currently.

But while FIFA has given the proposal the go ahead on Tuesday, many fans are unconvinced it’s a good move, having perceived FIFA’s motivation to be the increase in revenue that would result. For their own report suggests revenue will increase to £5.29 billion – producing a rise in profits of £521 million.

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