2026 FIFA World CUP : Council Approves Format Amendment

The FIFA Council has unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup 2026 competition format from 16 groups of three to 12 groups of four with the top two and eight best third-placed teams progressing to a round of 32. The Council met on Tuesday March 14, 2023 in advance of the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, and adopted several key decisions, particularly in relation to the future of men’s and women’s competitions for which the respective international match calendars were unanimously approved following a detailed consultation process.
According to information on the official website of the world football governing body, the revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams. It should be said that under the revised format, the total number of games played will increase from 64 to 104, and the number of games played by finalists will increase from seven to eight. As for the international match calendars approved by FIFA in the Council, the FIFA World Cup 2026 final will be played on Sunday, 19 July 2026, with the mandatory release period starting on 25 May 2026, following the last official club match on 24 May 2026 (exemptions may apply to the final matches of confederation club competitions until 30 May 2026 subject to FIFA’s app...