FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[TheGreatPython]

having 99 or 100 teams in a world cup tournament is not necessary and will make it a bit disorganized. Continental qualifiers are organized to give room for all the different continent to compete and bring in there representative who will participate in the world cup tournament. It's not about a nation being a developed nation or another being non developed, the tournament is organized in such a way that it cuts across all regions such that non is left out. The arrangement for this sort of inclusivity follows this order;

AFC (Asia): Eight direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
CAF (Africa): Nine direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
Concacaf (North and Central America, plus the Caribbean): Six direct spots + two inter-confederation play-off places
CONMEBOL (South America): Six direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
OFC (Oceania): One direct spot + one inter-confederation play-off place
UEFA (Europe): 16 direct spots

The three host countries will automatically qualify for the tournament, thus occupying three of the Concacaf slots.

While I do agree that odd numbers could be harder, a 64 team one doesn't look like impossible, and I think would be very fun, because it will take a long time and a lot of games as well.

Firstly you divide that into 4 teams of 16 groups, or you could even make 8 teams and 8 groups, which would be awesome. Then you have 32 teams left, which will be knock out stages but instead of one game, it will be like UCL where they play two games each, and then 16, and then quarters, then semi finals, all two games against each other, and then just one game finals.

That means teams would play probably 12 games until the end, or could be even more if we do 8 teams and 8 groups, but I do not think that makes sense. So that means 12 games would be the case if you make it 64 teams. Of course you are not going to get everyone be awesome, you may not end up with 64 great teams, but it will not be Sri Lanka level neither hence I think it would make sense to have this many teams.

The more the merrier if you ask me, more fun for everyone.

[Leviathan.007]

having 99 or 100 teams in a world cup tournament is not necessary and will make it a bit disorganized. Continental qualifiers are organized to give room for all the different continent to compete and bring in there representative who will participate in the world cup tournament. It's not about a nation being a developed nation or another being non developed, the tournament is organized in such a way that it cuts across all regions such that non is left out. The arrangement for this sort of inclusivity follows this order;

AFC (Asia): Eight direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
CAF (Africa): Nine direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
Concacaf (North and Central America, plus the Caribbean): Six direct spots + two inter-confederation play-off places
CONMEBOL (South America): Six direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
OFC (Oceania): One direct spot + one inter-confederation play-off place
UEFA (Europe): 16 direct spots

The three host countries will automatically qualify for the tournament, thus occupying three of the Concacaf slots.

While I do agree that odd numbers could be harder, a 64 team one doesn't look like impossible, and I think would be very fun, because it will take a long time and a lot of games as well.

Firstly you divide that into 4 teams of 16 groups, or you could even make 8 teams and 8 groups, which would be awesome. Then you have 32 teams left, which will be knock out stages but instead of one game, it will be like UCL where they play two games each, and then 16, and then quarters, then semi finals, all two games against each other, and then just one game finals.

That means teams would play probably 12 games until the end, or could be even more if we do 8 teams and 8 groups, but I do not think that makes sense. So that means 12 games would be the case if you make it 64 teams. Of course you are not going to get everyone be awesome, you may not end up with 64 great teams, but it will not be Sri Lanka level neither hence I think it would make sense to have this many teams.

The more the merrier if you ask me, more fun for everyone.

Even having 100 teams won't be impossible in the World Cup if you can host it in multiple countries like they are doing it right now in FIFA but the fact about having more teams is about having more weak teams which can't be good for any tournament to have this situation while we know FIFA can get more money from having more counties there because having more teams means having more countries and this means having more population in the World cup which can bring more money.
 

[Webetcoins]

Even having 100 teams won't be impossible in the World Cup if you can host it in multiple countries like they are doing it right now in FIFA but the fact about having more teams is about having more weak teams which can't be good for any tournament to have this situation while we know FIFA can get more money from having more counties there because having more teams means having more countries and this means having more population in the World cup which can bring more money.

No doubt having 100 teams in an event like FIFA World Cup is surely not problem with one country can also handle this because we are having Olympics Games and few other events which are hosted by one country with 100+ countries but as mentioned main issue is quality of the game we are having huge difference of quality between top 18 and others so if we have more teams then surely things will be not as par we need into event like this.

FIFA is already doing good job for the improvement of quality but still it's never been easy because we have many countries which are not able to have good domestic system which increase their game quality, and they have better things for having good competition against top teams of the world.

Now in 2026, we will watch how things will be gone if we have some good entertaining and quality matches then surely it's going to be good for the FIFA and many countries those were looking for their entry into this event for the decades because now they will have spots.

[Lidger]

More teams in the World Cup means having more weak teams in this tournament which can make the tournament not interesting to watch when we see weak teams playing against stronger teams like Germany and this does not even fans to watch something we already know the result. I think even if FIFA wanted to make 48 teams in the 2026 World Cup it should be permanent and for all the World Cups because this can not be good for the quality of the World Cup.
Regardless of that FIFA can earn more money by having more teams and this can be the benefit of having 48 teams.

Yeah I agree, we are now heading for the first cup with 48 teams after long time staying with 32 teams which was also good because still we are having big difference of quality in teams and having more teams into world cup can create some useless games and things can go badly on wrong side.

FIFA is already doing good job as they are having tough schedule for countries due to leagues they can bring more changes we have nearly 200 countries those started proceedings for the every event and after having things on good level at the end we have now 48 teams from them to compete in world cup this is not bad at all hopefully with this new system we will be able to have better matches and results from these teams those are coming in 2026 with hopefully all will be ok because first time this new system is going to be checked and in future mostly we will have 3 countries as co-host for this mega event.

2026 World Cup is going to be more interesting than 2022 World Cup. The number of teams participating in the 2026 World Cup is high so the competition will be high and there may be opportunities for new teams to do well. The 2026 World Cup will be history for the teams who are participating in a major tournament like the World Cup for the first time. 200 plus countries are included in FIFA and they are trying to make it to the main stage of the World Cup. 48 qualified teams out of 200 countries will participate in 26 World Cups. By increasing the number of teams in every World Cup like this, the tournament will be longer and we who wait four years to watch the World Cup will be self-sufficient.  
When the 2026 World Cup is over, we expect more new teams to participate in the 2030 World Cup.

[Marvelockg]

having 99 or 100 teams in a world cup tournament is not necessary and will make it a bit disorganized. Continental qualifiers are organized to give room for all the different continent to compete and bring in there representative who will participate in the world cup tournament. It's not about a nation being a developed nation or another being non developed, the tournament is organized in such a way that it cuts across all regions such that non is left out. The arrangement for this sort of inclusivity follows this order;

AFC (Asia): Eight direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
CAF (Africa): Nine direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
Concacaf (North and Central America, plus the Caribbean): Six direct spots + two inter-confederation play-off places
CONMEBOL (South America): Six direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
OFC (Oceania): One direct spot + one inter-confederation play-off place
UEFA (Europe): 16 direct spots

The three host countries will automatically qualify for the tournament, thus occupying three of the Concacaf slots.

While I do agree that odd numbers could be harder, a 64 team one doesn't look like impossible, and I think would be very fun, because it will take a long time and a lot of games as well.

Firstly you divide that into 4 teams of 16 groups, or you could even make 8 teams and 8 groups, which would be awesome. Then you have 32 teams left, which will be knock out stages but instead of one game, it will be like UCL where they play two games each, and then 16, and then quarters, then semi finals, all two games against each other, and then just one game finals.

That means teams would play probably 12 games until the end, or could be even more if we do 8 teams and 8 groups, but I do not think that makes sense. So that means 12 games would be the case if you make it 64 teams. Of course you are not going to get everyone be awesome, you may not end up with 64 great teams, but it will not be Sri Lanka level neither hence I think it would make sense to have this many teams.

The more the merrier if you ask me, more fun for everyone.

Even having 100 teams won't be impossible in the World Cup if you can host it in multiple countries like they are doing it right now in FIFA but the fact about having more teams is about having more weak teams which can't be good for any tournament to have this situation while we know FIFA can get more money from having more counties there because having more teams means having more countries and this means having more population in the World cup which can bring more money.
 

it will even encourage smaller countries that might find it deficult to come out succesfully from the Continental stage to be better featured in a world cup event. Not necessarily because those weaker teams have what it takes to go far in the world cup but basically because it's going to be sorting to at least give soke kf them the chance of seeing and having a feel of what participating in a world cup looks like which will give them a sort inclusiveness that they are very much a part of the world sports countries. How competitive some continent is has made it almost practically impossible for certain countries to make it to the world cup and some other that have even gone thier mange to go a very few numbers of times. The higher the number of countries allows to participate, the more chance smaller countries will be given to be a part of it.

[slapper]

having 99 or 100 teams in a world cup tournament is not necessary and will make it a bit disorganized. Continental qualifiers are organized to give room for all the different continent to compete and bring in there representative who will participate in the world cup tournament. It's not about a nation being a developed nation or another being non developed, the tournament is organized in such a way that it cuts across all regions such that non is left out. The arrangement for this sort of inclusivity follows this order;

AFC (Asia): Eight direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
CAF (Africa): Nine direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
Concacaf (North and Central America, plus the Caribbean): Six direct spots + two inter-confederation play-off places
CONMEBOL (South America): Six direct spots + one inter-confederation play-off place
OFC (Oceania): One direct spot + one inter-confederation play-off place
UEFA (Europe): 16 direct spots

The three host countries will automatically qualify for the tournament, thus occupying three of the Concacaf slots.

While I do agree that odd numbers could be harder, a 64 team one doesn't look like impossible, and I think would be very fun, because it will take a long time and a lot of games as well.

Firstly you divide that into 4 teams of 16 groups, or you could even make 8 teams and 8 groups, which would be awesome. Then you have 32 teams left, which will be knock out stages but instead of one game, it will be like UCL where they play two games each, and then 16, and then quarters, then semi finals, all two games against each other, and then just one game finals.

That means teams would play probably 12 games until the end, or could be even more if we do 8 teams and 8 groups, but I do not think that makes sense. So that means 12 games would be the case if you make it 64 teams. Of course you are not going to get everyone be awesome, you may not end up with 64 great teams, but it will not be Sri Lanka level neither hence I think it would make sense to have this many teams.

The more the merrier if you ask me, more fun for everyone.

Alright, so extending the World Cup to sixty-four teams? Sure, at first glance it sounds fascinating. Since several nations have hosted before, logistics isn't the major problem. Top-tier teams and the remainder differ in quality, but, greatly. Look at the Olympics; although many nations compete, how many are really competitive

More teams equal more games, hence there may be many blowouts. Nobody finds that interesting to view. Indeed, greater income and more worldwide engagement, but at what expense? The World Cup's supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport. Diluting the quality for the sake of inclusivity could backfire.

More is not necessarily better. Maintaining the reputation of the tournament should take front stage. So be it, keep it smaller and more competitive if it means so

[Sithara007]

Alright, so extending the World Cup to sixty-four teams? Sure, at first glance it sounds fascinating. Since several nations have hosted before, logistics isn't the major problem. Top-tier teams and the remainder differ in quality, but, greatly. Look at the Olympics; although many nations compete, how many are really competitive

More teams equal more games, hence there may be many blowouts. Nobody finds that interesting to view. Indeed, greater income and more worldwide engagement, but at what expense? The World Cup's supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport. Diluting the quality for the sake of inclusivity could backfire.

More is not necessarily better. Maintaining the reputation of the tournament should take front stage. So be it, keep it smaller and more competitive if it means so

Wow!!! 64 teams? That would be just too much. I believe that 48 is fair enough to give representation from all the major regions. 32 was too low, and we never saw legendary players such as Goran Pandeev and George Weah in the largest festival of football in the world. And my concern is that Erling Haaland will face the same fate. Increasing the number of teams would make sure that players such as Haaland gets a fair chance to play in the world cup. Why should we punish them just because they represent weak teams?

[Hanadawa]

-snip-Even having 100 teams won't be impossible in the World Cup if you can host it in multiple countries like they are doing it right now in FIFA but the fact about having more teams is about having more weak teams which can't be good for any tournament to have this situation

The World Cup is the most prestigious football competition in the world, even bigger than the Olympics. It can be said to be the biggest sporting tournament in the world. There is an expectation that the teams that play in the World Cup are the absolute best teams from each continent. Allowing 100 countries to play in the World Cup would make it like a league. Honestly, it would be very boring because it would no longer be just the best teams competing. I still agree with the 64-team format because it still makes sense. Some new countries will appear in the 2026 World Cup.

[Hirose UK]

Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers for the third round will begin early next month and we will see quite lot of matches categorized into 3 group, each group filled by 6 countries.
In this third round, it can also be said to be determinant for which countries are able to qualify to enter and participate in the real competition later in 2026, besides that in the third round we can see meeting between the team that are indeed the strongest for the Asian zone.
Here, what is quite easy to compete is group C, we can see that group C is filled by team that can be said to be not strong teams for Asia overall, maybe only Japan is the strongest team here and they are the favorites for group C.

[AirtelBuzz]

More teams in the World Cup means having more weak teams in this tournament which can make the tournament not interesting to watch when we see weak teams playing against stronger teams like Germany and this does not even fans to watch something we already know the result. I think even if FIFA wanted to make 48 teams in the 2026 World Cup it should be permanent and for all the World Cups because this can not be good for the quality of the World Cup.
Regardless of that FIFA can earn more money by having more teams and this can be the benefit of having 48 teams.

Yeah I agree, we are now heading for the first cup with 48 teams after long time staying with 32 teams which was also good because still we are having big difference of quality in teams and having more teams into world cup can create some useless games and things can go badly on wrong side.

FIFA is already doing good job as they are having tough schedule for countries due to leagues they can bring more changes we have nearly 200 countries those started proceedings for the every event and after having things on good level at the end we have now 48 teams from them to compete in world cup this is not bad at all hopefully with this new system we will be able to have better matches and results from these teams those are coming in 2026 with hopefully all will be ok because first time this new system is going to be checked and in future mostly we will have 3 countries as co-host for this mega event.

2026 World Cup is going to be more interesting than 2022 World Cup. The number of teams participating in the 2026 World Cup is high so the competition will be high and there may be opportunities for new teams to do well. The 2026 World Cup will be history for the teams who are participating in a major tournament like the World Cup for the first time. 200 plus countries are included in FIFA and they are trying to make it to the main stage of the World Cup. 48 qualified teams out of 200 countries will participate in 26 World Cups. By increasing the number of teams in every World Cup like this, the tournament will be longer and we who wait four years to watch the World Cup will be self-sufficient.  
When the 2026 World Cup is over, we expect more new teams to participate in the 2030 World Cup.

Every FIFA World Cup has a frenzy and it was the same in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Maybe the 2026 FIFA World Cup will have more teams which will make the tournament much longer. Moreover, the United States, Mexico and Canada will be the host countries for this tournament. The host country in the previous World Cup i.e. 2022 World Cup was the Asian country of Qatar. Despite hosting the FIFA World Cup in our Asian continent, none of the teams from this continent could perform so well.

Some of the best teams in Asia include Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. We are hopeful that along with the countries of other continents, our countries of this Asian continent will do well in the 2026 FIFA World Cup football and even gain fame.

[Leviathan.007]

Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers for the third round will begin early next month and we will see quite lot of matches categorized into 3 group, each group filled by 6 countries.
In this third round, it can also be said to be determinant for which countries are able to qualify to enter and participate in the real competition later in 2026, besides that in the third round we can see meeting between the team that are indeed the strongest for the Asian zone.
Here, what is quite easy to compete is group C, we can see that group C is filled by team that can be said to be not strong teams for Asia overall, maybe only Japan is the strongest team here and they are the favorites for group C.

In Asia, usually, we have some teams that will always get themself to the World Cup while some other items never saw themselves playing in this tournament this can make the Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers a little bit predictable for everyone. For example, some teams like Australia, Japan, and South Korea or other teams like Iran are usually in the World Cup however they usually cannot have good performance in the World Cup because of the much stronger teas in this tournament. That's why I think this group Japan and Australia are going to be the first two teams in this group.

[hosseinimr93]

Here, what is quite easy to compete is group C, we can see that group C is filled by team that can be said to be not strong teams for Asia overall, maybe only Japan is the strongest team here and they are the favorites for group C.

Group C is the most difficult group.
Half of the teams that qualified for the 2022 world cup from Asia will compete in group C.

You can't underestimate Australia and Saudi Arabia.
In 2022 world cup, Australia defeated Tunisia and Denmark and qulified for the round of 16. In round of 16, they lost to Argentina (the winner of the tournament) 2-1.
And Saudi Arabia was the only team that could defeat Argentina.

[bering]

Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers for the third round will begin early next month and we will see quite lot of matches categorized into 3 group, each group filled by 6 countries.
In this third round, it can also be said to be determinant for which countries are able to qualify to enter and participate in the real competition later in 2026, besides that in the third round we can see meeting between the team that are indeed the strongest for the Asian zone.
Here, what is quite easy to compete is group C, we can see that group C is filled by team that can be said to be not strong teams for Asia overall, maybe only Japan is the strongest team here and they are the favorites for group C.

Because FIFA has decided to added more participant on world cup 2026 from 32 to 48 countries then the effect is Asia Zone will gets more ticket than the previous world cup and for the current world cup Asia will gets total 8 tickets and 1 ticket from play off stages so this makes some of teams on the 3rd round will have more opportunities to advances to the group stages of world cup or at least will qualified to the 4th round

And for group C i have to says this is hell group because in this group there are some of strong teams who always be regularly to participant to world cup such as Saudi Arabia ,Japan and Australia and these teams will fight to gets top 2 position on round 3 because if i am not mistaken the teams who finish on that position will be automatically advances to the world cup

[Docnaster]

Here, what is quite easy to compete is group C, we can see that group C is filled by team that can be said to be not strong teams for Asia overall, maybe only Japan is the strongest team here and they are the favorites for group C.

Group C is the most difficult group.
Half of the teams that qualified for the 2022 world cup from Asia will compete in group C.

You can't underestimate Australia and Saudi Arabia.
In 2022 world cup, Australia defeated Tunisia and Denmark and qulified for the round of 16. In round of 16, they lost to Argentina (the winner of the tournament) 2-1.
And Saudi Arabia was the only team that could defeat Argentina.

For anyone who witnessed Australia and Saudi Arabia's performance in the last FIFA World Cup, underrating the two national teams in the group C is the least you can think. There's no doubt that Japan stands as the favorites to win the group but that doesn't mean that Australia had Saudi Arabia don't stand a chance of winning the group ahead of Japan. Personally I feel it's the most difficult group in the qualifiers for Asian nations and that makes the group more interesting than others.

[hosseinimr93]

because if i am not mistaken the teams who finish on that position will be automatically advances to the world cup

Right. The top two teams will qualify for the world cup and the third and fourth placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
In the fourth round, there will be two groups of three. The winners will qualify for the world cup and The second placed teams will play againt each other to determine the AFC reprenstative in inter-confederation play-offs.

[Lidger]

-snip-Even having 100 teams won't be impossible in the World Cup if you can host it in multiple countries like they are doing it right now in FIFA but the fact about having more teams is about having more weak teams which can't be good for any tournament to have this situation

The World Cup is the most prestigious football competition in the world, even bigger than the Olympics. It can be said to be the biggest sporting tournament in the world. There is an expectation that the teams that play in the World Cup are the absolute best teams from each continent. Allowing 100 countries to play in the World Cup would make it like a league. Honestly, it would be very boring because it would no longer be just the best teams competing. I still agree with the 64-team format because it still makes sense. Some new countries will appear in the 2026 World Cup.

One of the most popular tournaments in the world is the football world cup in which the best teams participate.  Two hundred plus countries play qualifying matches before the start of every football tournament from which only a few teams qualify for the main stage. But after finishing the 2022 World Cup, FIFA has taken a new initiative where they will increase the number of teams in the next World Cup tournament, which means we will see new teams in the next World Cup tournament. As FIFA organizes the World Cup tournament with more teams I think the excitement of the World Cup will increase as well as we will see better performances from each team. If the World Cup tournament is organized with 40 or more teams in the next season, then we expect to host the World Cup tournament with more teams in the 2030 World Cup.

[Sithara007]

One of the most popular tournaments in the world is the football world cup in which the best teams participate.  Two hundred plus countries play qualifying matches before the start of every football tournament from which only a few teams qualify for the main stage. But after finishing the 2022 World Cup, FIFA has taken a new initiative where they will increase the number of teams in the next World Cup tournament, which means we will see new teams in the next World Cup tournament. As FIFA organizes the World Cup tournament with more teams I think the excitement of the World Cup will increase as well as we will see better performances from each team. If the World Cup tournament is organized with 40 or more teams in the next season, then we expect to host the World Cup tournament with more teams in the 2030 World Cup.

They are not going to increase it any further. I believe that 48 is the absolute maximum that world cup can afford. And it gives enough representation to all the regions. But then the current qualification system is a bit unfair to the two strongest confederations (CONMEBOL and UEFA). Even with 48 participants, we will still see some of the deserving teams missing out (say Venezuela from CONMEBOL, or Norway from UEFA). But then, what can be done for this?

[rdluffy]

They are not going to increase it any further. I believe that 48 is the absolute maximum that world cup can afford. And it gives enough representation to all the regions. But then the current qualification system is a bit unfair to the two strongest confederations (CONMEBOL and UEFA). Even with 48 participants, we will still see some of the deserving teams missing out (say Venezuela from CONMEBOL, or Norway from UEFA). But then, what can be done for this?

I haven't posted here for a while, but I'm surprised that the thread is still so active so long before the 2026 World Cup 

I also agree that 48 teams seems to be the maximum possible for a long period of time. FIFA is clearly moving towards bigger events, in more countries, more grandiose and with more money.
But at least in my opinion, in a few years this grandiosity could end and even return to the format of 32 teams in total

With 48 teams and in 3 countries, it can and will be viable, or in large countries, but I can't imagine a World Cup with 48 teams being held in a small or humble country

[Sithara007]

I haven't posted here for a while, but I'm surprised that the thread is still so active so long before the 2026 World Cup 

I also agree that 48 teams seems to be the maximum possible for a long period of time. FIFA is clearly moving towards bigger events, in more countries, more grandiose and with more money.
But at least in my opinion, in a few years this grandiosity could end and even return to the format of 32 teams in total

With 48 teams and in 3 countries, it can and will be viable, or in large countries, but I can't imagine a World Cup with 48 teams being held in a small or humble country

Previously it was 16 teams, which got expanded to 24 in 1982, and then again to 32 in 1998. And from 2026, they are going to expand it again to 48 teams. I have seen a lot of opposition from some people, who claim that the quality will go down. I disagree with them. Previously that was the case. The gap between top teams and the smaller teams was huge. The situation has changed, and this in turn has made it possible to include more teams in the tournament without impacting the quality of matches.

[Fiatless]

Previously it was 16 teams, which got expanded to 24 in 1982, and then again to 32 in 1998. And from 2026, they are going to expand it again to 48 teams. I have seen a lot of opposition from some people, who claim that the quality will go down. I disagree with them. Previously that was the case. The gap between top teams and the smaller teams was huge. The situation has changed, and this in turn has made it possible to include more teams in the tournament without impacting the quality of matches.

I also disagree that the quality of the World Cup will be reduced. More countries are improving in football, and these nations deserve to be allowed to feature in the global competition. We have seen more teams in Africa and Asia showing more quality in their games so they deserve to have more slots in the competition.

Some people also accused FIFA President Gianni Infantino of using this expansion to increase his chances of winning his re-election. Thereby insinuating that the increase of the World Cup participants was not for the good of the game but for political reasons. I don't care what they think, but I see the FIFA president as a reformist who has brought so many new ideas to the organization.