FIFA World Cup 2026 opinion poll + discusion about new format & rules

[pawel7777]

As the first round of group games is now completed and a fair number of games are behind us, I thought it would be a good idea to see what the general sentiment is for the new format of the tournament, new rules as well as the organisational aspects of the tournament.

This is not meant to be a threat for discussion of results of the games (as there's already a dedicated topic for that) but for all other, surrounding aspects.

So feel free to share your opinion on what you think is an improvement, what do you find annoying, what are your thoughts on the increased number of participating teams etc. And, of course, please vote.

[pawel7777]

I forgot how hard it is to make a successful thread in the high-paced board like this one.
The topic has been slid in a blink to distant pages.
Bumping it in a last-ditch effort for it to get any traction. But if it dies, it dies.

[KTChampions]

I forgot how hard it is to make a successful thread in the high-paced board like this one.
The topic has been slid in a blink to distant pages.
Bumping it in a last-ditch effort for it to get any traction. But if it dies, it dies.

I think once the tournament has started it's worth waiting at least halfway (quarterfinals) through to find out people's opinions.
Personally, I don't like everything. The ridiculous number of teams, the lousy three-country format, the lousy US with its politics, the ticket prices, the fact that the games mostly take place at night for me, etc. At the moment I'm trying to figure out why I might like this kind of tournament. The only advantage is the opportunity to while away the summer until the real tournaments begin.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

I hate the new format, everything from the 48 teams to water breaks and what not. Also that they play in 3 countries is kind of a joke. Sure, it's nice for small countries to participate but I would rather see Italy than Haiti, Curacao or Cape Verde tbh.
The commercialism of football really is at it's peak and I sincerely hope that at one point either the fans or the player might take some action to stop all the nonsense.
Who really need a tournament that goes a whole month? If you look at the first round there is actually only 1 game that's interesting on paper, and that was England vs Croatia. The rest is just garbage where you can't really get excited for it.

[rdluffy]

I have a different opinion from most, hehe

I'm really enjoying watching the games, I've managed to watch most of them so far
Even games of smaller national teams that are proving to be quite competitive and that everyone was mocking until now, like Cape Verde holding a draw against Spain, which is the favorite os gamblers

For those who aren't enjoying the games, a good idea is to only watch the semi-finals and the grand final

The experience that teams participating for the first time, or those that haven't played in a World Cup for a long time, are gaining is invaluable and can greatly help football in those countries as a whole

[KTChampions]

I hate the new format, everything from the 48 teams to water breaks and what not.

By the way, yes, I forgot about this when I was listing everything that annoys me.
And in fact, these aren't actually drink breaks, but commercial breaks introduced under a clever pretext, drinking has never been a problem for players before.

Who really need a tournament that goes a whole month?

Month plus one week  I wouldn't mind  even a two-month tournament, but only if it were a quality tournament and not a clown show like the group stage.

[Italian Panic]

Month plus one week  I wouldn't mind  even a two-month tournament, but only if it were a quality tournament and not a clown show like the group stage.

That’s right, the World Cup in Qatar lasted 29 days; this tournament will last about ten days longer, so not two months. However, I believe this format has significantly lowered the standard and quality of the matches; furthermore, there are teams that I don’t know how they qualified, given the poor standard they’re displaying. And I don’t agree with the third-placed qualifiers either, because it’s a lifeline for strong teams that play poorly, such as Turkey.

[xLays]

Who watched the Paraguay vs. Turkey match? Someone became the first victim of the new rule regarding players talking while covering their mouths. M. Almiron received a red card because of it. lol
Despite havingTurkey advantage 10 vs 11 players Turkey still failed to win and is now most likely heading for elimination. Their next match is against the USA. Although that game may not be very important for the USA, I still don't think Turkey will win it. Even if Turkey does manage to win, their chances of qualifying would remain very slim since Paraguay and Australia already have one win each, while Turkey still has none.

[Zlantann]

I have a different opinion from most, hehe

I'm really enjoying watching the games, I've managed to watch most of them so far
Even games of smaller national teams that are proving to be quite competitive and that everyone was mocking until now, like Cape Verde holding a draw against Spain, which is the favorite os gamblers

For those who aren't enjoying the games, a good idea is to only watch the semi-finals and the grand final

The experience that teams participating for the first time, or those that haven't played in a World Cup for a long time, are gaining is invaluable and can greatly help football in those countries as a whole

While people are complaining that increasing the number of participants reduced the quality, the world is discovering some unknown teams. Without this new format, Cape Verde might not have made it to the competition. Curacao and Haiti might make my defense weak because of their poor performance. But seeing DR Congo and Cape Verde display against Portugal and Spain made the competition unpredictable.

The water break is like a disruption to the game. It interrupts the flow and could even reduce players' morale. I know it was introduced for players' welfare, but it shouldn't be compulsory in all games. The weather conditions should be considered before stopping the game for this break. Critics believe that FIFA introduced this rule because of the revenue that will be generated from advertising during the break.

[acroman08]

So feel free to share your opinion on what you think is an improvement, what do you find annoying, what are your thoughts on the increased number of participating teams etc. And, of course, please vote.

I am not a huge follower of the World Cup, but I think the increased of countries being allowed to participate was a great addition. I mean, in the long run, it would eventually benefit football overall since it would give football players who aren't as privileged as others a chance to showcase their skills on the world stage and maybe be headhunted by known/popular teams.

[UmerIdrees]

I am not a huge follower of the World Cup, but I think the increased of countries being allowed to participate was a great addition. I mean, in the long run, it would eventually benefit football overall since it would give football players who aren't as privileged as others a chance to showcase their skills on the world stage and maybe be headhunted by known/popular teams.

Oh, come on, this is the World Cup that doesn't mean that you put each and every country in the main tournament and fail the purpose of it.

Also, this doesn't mean that small countries aren't given the chance to participate in the World Cup. They have the qualification rounds and if they are capable enough, they should qualify in the top 32 countries. If they can't qualify, they need to improve themselves.

This doesn't make sense that in order to include those countries, you increase the number of participating countries to 48. Some time later, people will argue that instead of 48, there should be 96 countries so everyone is given a chance. Then why do we have qualifying rounds?

[blomen]

in my opinion, the best thing about this format is that we get to see a wider variety of teams. some people might think it’s ridiculous for the cape verde islands, haiti, qatar, or curaçao to be in the world cup, but i think it’s wonderful that even these teams have a chance in the group stage and get to represent their countries in the world’s biggest soccer tournament. that’s what the world cup should be all about. we have the chance to watch many matches every day, and even though it’s very difficult for them to compete against the best teams, we get to see how different countries play.

i also think it’s great that the tournament lasts a little over a month. tournaments with 32 teams used to last exactly one month.

[nimogsm]

I think the fact that there are more teams has only been a benefit there are more games and more things to watch. But the timing of these games... some play at 3 a.m., others at 10 p.m. I don't like the wide range. On the other hand, I understand that it's convenient for some to watch a match at that time. I recall previous championships and don't recall this happening (but there were fewer teams). Overall, it's too early to talk about shortcomings; I think we'll be able to draw conclusions closer to the finals.

[acroman08]

Oh, come on, this is the World Cup that doesn't mean that you put each and every country in the main tournament and fail the purpose of it.

Also, this doesn't mean that small countries aren't given the chance to participate in the World Cup. They have the qualification rounds and if they are capable enough, they should qualify in the top 32 countries. If they can't qualify, they need to improve themselves.

This doesn't make sense that in order to include those countries, you increase the number of participating countries to 48. Some time later, people will argue that instead of 48, there should be 96 countries so everyone is given a chance. Then why do we have qualifying rounds?

I'm just saying, having 48 countries compete is acceptable and reasonable enough(at least for me), and it will benefit football overall since more football player will be exposed to the world stage and have a chance to showcase their skills.

[SFR10]

So feel free to share your opinion on what you think is an improvement, what do you find annoying, what are your thoughts on the increased number of participating teams etc.

I like the 48-team expanded format over the previous one ^{[it gives weaker or otherwise unlucky teams more chances to compete in the tournament, and in the long run, it could motivate non-participating teams/countries to actually think about improvements]}.

Improvements

• The 10-second substitutions and 5-second restart rules are good improvements for tackling time-wasting issues.
• The inclusion of the eight best third-place teams in the round of 32 is also good.

Annoying parts

• Three-minute hydration/commercial breaks
• One-minute cooldown for injured players who leave the pitch

[virasog]

I'm just saying, having 48 countries compete is acceptable and reasonable enough(at least for me), and it will benefit football overall since more football player will be exposed to the world stage and have a chance to showcase their skills.

Yup, I also tend to agree with you but now there is more luck that you need after the group stages as now the teams have to play knock out in group of 32 and then group of 16 and so on. It means that there will be more knockout matches and this means that at any given a day, a stronger or even favorite team can lose a match due to hard luck and the world cup would be over from them.

I preferred it if we had groups in the round of 32 too, not just sudden eliminations as we have in the round of 16, then quarterfinals, etc.

[DiMarxist]

Personally speaking I like the way that FIFA has been able to rebrand the beautiful game of good. By expanding the number of the participants in the world cup, this has lead to many countries which would not necessarily be in the world cup. With this number of teams participating we will be seeing more games and more fun, this to me has added more excitement to the world cup. Another thing I have come to love about the world cup is the rule which says that no player should cover his mouth while talking to a opposition player. This is a welcome development and will go a long way in curbing racial abuse from players.

[Filicius]

I hate the new format, everything from the 48 teams to water breaks and what not. Also that they play in 3 countries is kind of a joke. Sure, it's nice for small countries to participate but I would rather see Italy than Haiti, Curacao or Cape Verde tbh.
The commercialism of football really is at it's peak and I sincerely hope that at one point either the fans or the player might take some action to stop all the nonsense.
Who really need a tournament that goes a whole month? If you look at the first round there is actually only 1 game that's interesting on paper, and that was England vs Croatia. The rest is just garbage where you can't really get excited for it.

I don't really hate the format, the fact that there are a greater number of countries good for those who normally do not have options to be in the World Cup, and as per the water breaks they are not wonderful, but taking into account the ability to keep the attention of the younger generations, I think it is a strategic decision beyond the health of the players.

But I agree with you that commercialism of football is at it's peak and the way everything is laid out, from the presentation of the players to the way in which the advertising is displayed (and here again we should talk about how water breaks are used to show ads in many countries), and that makes me uncomfortable tbh.

[sokani]

Who watched the Paraguay vs. Turkey match? Someone became the first victim of the new rule regarding players talking while covering their mouths. M. Almiron received a red card because of it. lol

Players have been using abusive language on opponents and covering their mouths with their hands to avoid being seen by officials and cameras. It's a good thing such a rule was introduced to reduce this unsporting behaviour. At least his name is now in the history books as the first player to get sent off for the offence.

[r_victory]

I liked the possibility of more teams participating; I'm watching practically all the games and having a lot of fun. I saw someone mention the water breaks, I don't see any problem with that, basketball also has breaks that can be requested, I don't think that negatively interferes with the matches or the cup in general.