The World Cup 2026 was unlike any other, as this year’s edition had the most countries competing in the quadrennial tournament. In the past few editions, the playing field was set at 32 teams, and now it was 48 due to the bold decisions made by FIFA.
Despite the diluted World Cup 2026 odds due to a larger field, Spain won the World Cup by beating Argentina in the final. Before this, the Top 4 teams in the FIFA men’s rankings reached the semi-finals, which indicates that the retooled playing field didn’t affect their chances of making a deep tournament run.
Besides the 48-team format, this also marked the first time that three nations co-hosted the World Cup. After Mexico, Canada, and the United States did so this year, Portugal, Morocco, and Spain will follow suit in the next cycle in 2030 before going to Saudi Arabia in 2034.
Today, SBOTOP offers its take on whether the new tournament format was successful.
The idea behind the 48-team format
Gianni Infantino is set for his fourth term as FIFA president, following the resounding success of this year’s World Cup. Under his leadership, FIFA implemented a 48-team format as an initiative to be more inclusive, and it worked.
Africa and Asia were the main beneficiaries of the increased playing field. Africa sent a record 10 teams (nine of them qualified for the knockout stage), which is double their allotment in the previous 32-team format. On the other hand, nine Asian countries were in, including newcomers Uzbekistan and Jordan, although only Australia and Japan qualified for the knockout stage.
Cape Verde and Curaçao also qualified for the World Cup for the first time, with the latter becoming the smallest nation to qualify with a population of approximately 158,000. These two teams had different fortunes in the quadrennial tournament.
As expected, Europe had the highest contingent in this year’s World Cup with 16 qualified nations. England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Scotland, Spain, Austria, and Belgium won their respective groups in the UEFA qualifiers. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Sweden, and the Czech Republic made it via the UEFA play-offs.
The top storylines created by the new format
The truth is, if it weren’t for the 48-team format in this year’s World Cup, football fans would be deprived of some of the teams, stories, journeys, and unforgettable moments of the tournament.
Of course, there’s Cape Verde, which became the darlings of the tournament because of their improbable run to the Round of 32. The Blue Wave were the winners of their group during the CAF qualifiers, and Bubista’s men can boast that they’re the only team Spain have never beaten in this year’s World Cup. In their goalless draw during the opener, Vozinha drew plaudits for his outstanding performance, and the 40-year-old received a hero’s welcome back home. After finishing second in Group H, Cape Verde almost upset Argentina in the Round of 32 in added extra time.
We also saw DR Congo, in their first World Cup since 1974, hold Portugal and push Colombia and England to their limits. Curacao also held tournament dark horses Ecuador to a goalless draw, sparking euphoria back home, before eventually bowing out of the competition.
South Africa also defied the odds by leapfrogging South Korea to take the second seed in Group A following their group-stage finale victory, before they lost narrowly to Canada in the Round of 32. Ghana, Paraguay, and Norway were also the feel-good stories of the competition.
Should we add more teams in 2030 and beyond?
After the resounding success of this year’s competition, FIFA is reportedly planning to add more teams for the next World Cup cycle, sparking mixed reactions. Some argue that adding 16 more teams would dilute the quality of the competition overall in an attempt to make the tournament even more inclusive.
However, FIFA has bigger issues to fix, such as the affordability of fans to watch the games live, visa issues for games held in the United States, and Donald Trump’s constant meddling in the proceedings.
A handful of World Cup legends had trouble visiting the United States, which is disrespectful to them, and much of the working class and supporters from countries facing visa issues were shut out. According to the World Cup 2026 news, there was also considerable outrage over the high cost of stadium tickets compared to previous tournaments, forcing fans to watch the matches online rather than live.
Unless FIFA addresses those serious concerns, implementing a 64-team contingent should be the last thing on their minds.
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