First 48-Team World Cup: Qualification Difficulty Decreases, Tension May Shrink
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will expand to 48 teams for the first time, which may reduce the intensity of the group stage due to easier qualification for the knockout rounds, despite offering more opportunities for new teams.
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- 📰 Published: May 11, 2026 at 13:03
- 🔍 Collected: May 11, 2026 at 13:31 (28 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 11, 2026 at 22:54 (9h 22m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency, Paris, 10th, comprehensive foreign wire report) The 2026 FIFA World Cup will expand to 48 teams for the first time, with changes in the format allowing more new faces to appear on the world football stage. However, some adjustments in the expanded format have reduced the difficulty of qualifying for the knockout stages, diminishing the tension that was originally present in the group stage.
According to Agence France-Presse, this expansion of the main tournament was one of the core policies proposed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino after he took office in 2016. Infantino emphasized at the time to "give more opportunities to more teams" and stated that the World Cup should be seen as a "social event, not just a sports competition."
In fact, for most of its history, the World Cup has hardly been truly "globalized." The tournament has long been dominated by a few countries in Europe and South America, with the main tournament adopting a 16-team format for many years until it expanded to 24 teams in 1982. In 1978, 10 of the 16 participating teams were from Europe, and in the 1990 Italy World Cup, 14 of the 24 teams were from Europe.
Before 1982, Africa had only 4 spots in the first 11 World Cups combined. Even by 1990, Africa, Asia, and CONCACAF (North, Central America, and Caribbean) each had only two teams in the main tournament.
Since the expansion to 32 teams in 1998, the allocation of regional spots has become more balanced. By the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Africa had 5 representatives, while Europe had 13 teams. With the move to 48 teams, the quotas for major continents are even more balanced: now Europe has 16 teams, Africa 10, Asia 9, and South America and CONCACAF each have 6 teams, with New Zealand securing one spot.
FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger said in December last year: "We want to fully globalize football. I think 48 teams is an appropriate number, which is less than a quarter of FIFA's 211 member associations."
The expansion allows some of the world's smallest nations to enter the main tournament for the first time, with the Caribbean island nation of Curaçao, with a population of only about 160,000, being one example. Curaçao head coach Fred Rutten told Agence France-Presse: "Every 10 or 4 years, a dark horse appears in the World Cup." He hopes to create a few upset miracles this time.
Other first-time qualifiers include Cape Verde, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.
The new format also gives countries traditionally considered weaker teams a chance to advance to the 32-team knockout stage. In the 12 groups, the top two teams from each group and the 8 best third-place teams will advance, meaning that just one win in the group stage could be enough to qualify.
However, this also means that the "sense of life and death" in the early stages of the competition will be greatly weakened. Even if a traditional powerhouse suffers an upset loss at the start, the impact will not be significant, which is completely different from the situation in 2022 when eventual champions Argentina faced elimination immediately after losing their first match to Saudi Arabia. Scenarios like Germany being eliminated in the group stage in the past two World Cups are unlikely to happen again.
In the 2022 group stage, 48 matches were played to eliminate 16 teams, while this time, 72 matches will be played in the first round to eliminate the same 16 teams. To reach the final, participating teams will now have to play 8 matches, one more than before, and the tournament will be held in the hot North American summer, which will undoubtedly be more exhausting for key players.
Football authority writer Jonathan Wilson said: "I understand the reasons for expanding representation, but I feel that maintaining a 32-team main tournament is ideal."
He told Agence France-Presse: "I think the biggest problem is not the disparity in quality, but the dilution of excitement in the first round. The fact that 8 third-place teams can still advance from the group stage will probably test everyone's patience." (Translator: Chen Yi-wei) 1150511
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(Central News Agency, Paris, 10th, comprehensive foreign wire report) The 2026 FIFA World Cup will expand to 48 teams for the first time, with changes in the format allowing more new faces to appear on the world football stage. However, some adjustments in the expanded format have reduced the difficulty of qualifying for the knockout stages, diminishing the tension that was originally present in the group stage.
According to Agence France-Presse, this expansion of the main tournament was one of the core policies proposed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino after he took office in 2016. Infantino emphasized at the time to "give more opportunities to more teams" and stated that the World Cup should be seen as a "social event, not just a sports competition."
In fact, for most of its history, the World Cup has hardly been truly "globalized." The tournament has long been dominated by a few countries in Europe and South America, with the main tournament adopting a 16-team format for many years until it expanded to 24 teams in 1982. In 1978, 10 of the 16 participating teams were from Europe, and in the 1990 Italy World Cup, 14 of the 24 teams were from Europe.
Before 1982, Africa had only 4 spots in the first 11 World Cups combined. Even by 1990, Africa, Asia, and CONCACAF (North, Central America, and Caribbean) each had only two teams in the main tournament.
Since the expansion to 32 teams in 1998, the allocation of regional spots has become more balanced. By the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Africa had 5 representatives, while Europe had 13 teams. With the move to 48 teams, the quotas for major continents are even more balanced: now Europe has 16 teams, Africa 10, Asia 9, and South America and CONCACAF each have 6 teams, with New Zealand securing one spot.
FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger said in December last year: "We want to fully globalize football. I think 48 teams is an appropriate number, which is less than a quarter of FIFA's 211 member associations."
The expansion allows some of the world's smallest nations to enter the main tournament for the first time, with the Caribbean island nation of Curaçao, with a population of only about 160,000, being one example. Curaçao head coach Fred Rutten told Agence France-Presse: "Every 10 or 4 years, a dark horse appears in the World Cup." He hopes to create a few upset miracles this time.
Other first-time qualifiers include Cape Verde, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.
The new format also gives countries traditionally considered weaker teams a chance to advance to the 32-team knockout stage. In the 12 groups, the top two teams from each group and the 8 best third-place teams will advance, meaning that just one win in the group stage could be enough to qualify.
However, this also means that the "sense of life and death" in the early stages of the competition will be greatly weakened. Even if a traditional powerhouse suffers an upset loss at the start, the impact will not be significant, which is completely different from the situation in 2022 when eventual champions Argentina faced elimination immediately after losing their first match to Saudi Arabia. Scenarios like Germany being eliminated in the group stage in the past two World Cups are unlikely to happen again.
In the 2022 group stage, 48 matches were played to eliminate 16 teams, while this time, 72 matches will be played in the first round to eliminate the same 16 teams. To reach the final, participating teams will now have to play 8 matches, one more than before, and the tournament will be held in the hot North American summer, which will undoubtedly be more exhausting for key players.
Football authority writer Jonathan Wilson said: "I understand the reasons for expanding representation, but I feel that maintaining a 32-team main tournament is ideal."
He told Agence France-Presse: "I think the biggest problem is not the disparity in quality, but the dilution of excitement in the first round. The fact that 8 third-place teams can still advance from the group stage will probably test everyone's patience." (Translator: Chen Yi-wei) 1150511
Choose to stand with the facts. Every sponsorship you provide is a force to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency 'First-hand News' APP to stay updated with the latest news.
The text, images, and videos on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.