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

[KTChampions]

The next FIFA presidential "election" will take place in 2027. But to understand what kind of "election" it will be, you need to look at how the previous one (in 2023) went 
Guess how many candidates there were in that election? Yes, exactly one, and Infantino "won the election" 
FIFA is a bastard mafia organization, everything is decided without elections. I don't know why they even formally hold them. Even if Infantino is replaced by someone else, it will most likely be a new bastard, not a transition to honest work.

Next year, there won't be any candidates, right? Infantino will continue in office.

It's like already in the set that he has to continue again, do not be surprised about his depraved FIFA it's his reality there are billions of dollars of money flowing, who is not tempted?

The World Cup is now full of advertising, more frequent breaks, and in the final later in the half-time break it will be even longer if not mistaken 17 minutes or 30 minutes, boring again.

I am 99% sure that there will be no other candidates, such are FIFA traditions, a choice without a choice 
Infantino was deeply disgraced at this World Cup, and I heard the European federations threatened to draft their own candidate, but it seems these were empty words and a sham to appease the fans. Soon, few will even remember the lifting (or postponement) of Balagun's disqualification, so officials will continue to profit from the money flows and corruption.

[DrBeer]

There are rumours about the game for the 3rd place between England and France having to be moved.
The match is scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) evening, 22:00 UK time at Miami, but weather forecasts show a possibility of thunderstorms.
There's the "8 miles rule" (I'm not sure if introduced by FIFA or if it's an American thing) that says that a game must be suspended or delayed if there is lightning within 8 miles of the venue and can be resumed after 30 minutes have passed since the last lightning strike.
So if Miami gets in the middle of a thunderstorm tomorrow evening, we could see the match getting pushed back by even a few hours at worst, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.

"...Yes, Trump did call us, of course, but we made this decision on our own-the U.S. team will participate in the England-France match, and it will be the winner!" 

[Alpha Marine]

I don't know what people are complaining about; it's still the same format, but with more teams. The only difference is that there is an extra round, and this time, teams that finish in 3rd place stand a chance of qualifying if they get enough points. People just hate change, no matter how little they complain.
The World Cup was interesting from the very beginning. There were a few cases of things that didn't sit right with me, like how Iran was treated and a red card was overturned through politics, but other than that, the World Cup was very interesting.
It's mainly people whose teams didn't do well, or the team they hate did well, who complain about the World Cup the most.

I think they should just make it 64 teams instead of 48, so that there will be no more 3rd best teams. It would just be 16 groups of four teams, and the top two teams would qualify for the round of 32. I think rewarding the 3rd place teams in the World Cup is not something that should be continued.

[Moreno233]

I am 99% sure that there will be no other candidates, such are FIFA traditions, a choice without a choice 
Infantino was deeply disgraced at this World Cup, and I heard the European federations threatened to draft their own candidate, but it seems these were empty words and a sham to appease the fans. Soon, few will even remember the lifting (or postponement) of Balagun's disqualification, so officials will continue to profit from the money flows and corruption.

He was deeply disgraced by AI right? Those cool AI videos of him and Messi amount to a huge disgrace I guess. The tournament may have some lapses but we should not lash out at Infantino because he cannot influence everything especially the decision of the referee when  he has deligated that job to the department in charge of that. He can influence disciplinary actions against officials that performed poorly but as at the time those decisions were being made, there is absolutely nothing he can do. If you were in his shoes, would you award thw winning to Egypt against Argentina? The answer is no so you understandind thw situation Infantino is in right now.

[KTChampions]

I am 99% sure that there will be no other candidates, such are FIFA traditions, a choice without a choice 
Infantino was deeply disgraced at this World Cup, and I heard the European federations threatened to draft their own candidate, but it seems these were empty words and a sham to appease the fans. Soon, few will even remember the lifting (or postponement) of Balagun's disqualification, so officials will continue to profit from the money flows and corruption.

He was deeply disgraced by AI right? Those cool AI videos of him and Messi amount to a huge disgrace I guess. The tournament may have some lapses but we should not lash out at Infantino because he cannot influence everything especially the decision of the referee when  he has deligated that job to the department in charge of that. He can influence disciplinary actions against officials that performed poorly but as at the time those decisions were being made, there is absolutely nothing he can do. If you were in his shoes, would you award thw winning to Egypt against Argentina? The answer is no so you understandind thw situation Infantino is in right now.

What AI videos? What are you talking about? What the fuck is this about Egypt's victory over Argentina? Are you fucking drunk or are you reading some other message and answering me?
If you don't understand what we're talking about and what the grievances against Infantino are, then it's best not to even start this conversation, as normal interaction requires some kind of basis where both sides understand each other. You've chosen the strategy of not understanding anything. Okay, you're doing great. But please don't write to me anymore.

[LTU_btc]

Just before 3rd place game, my opinion that's completely not needed. Usually teams that are playing isn't motivated much. Only thing a bit interesting about it is Mbappe fight for Golden Boot award. But I wish that FIFA would follow UEFA path and stop playing for 3rd place.

I don't know what people are complaining about; it's still the same format, but with more teams. The only difference is that there is an extra round, and this time, teams that finish in 3rd place stand a chance of qualifying if they get enough points. People just hate change, no matter how little they complain.
The World Cup was interesting from the very beginning. There were a few cases of things that didn't sit right with me, like how Iran was treated and a red card was overturned through politics, but other than that, the World Cup was very interesting.
It's mainly people whose teams didn't do well, or the team they hate did well, who complain about the World Cup the most.

I think they should just make it 64 teams instead of 48, so that there will be no more 3rd best teams. It would just be 16 groups of four teams, and the top two teams would qualify for the round of 32. I think rewarding the 3rd place teams in the World Cup is not something that should be continued.

Why 64, maybe we should include all FIFA members to World Cup? No, people aren't hating change without a reason. It's because changes makes competition worse. World Cup should be competiton of best teams, we don't need more weak teams. With 48 teams group stage is already waste of time. Look, all Asian teams were eliminated early, same about African teams except Morocco. Do we really need to give extra spot for these confederations?

[SensitiveEyes]

FIFA rules must be equal for every team. Did you notice the words people use about Giovanni Infantino they make Sepp Blatter look like an angel. How is FIFA getting a clean name in the future if people say matches are fixed and FIFA is dirty with corruption. How many years will Giovanni Infantino head FIFA.

The next FIFA presidential "election" will take place in 2027. But to understand what kind of "election" it will be, you need to look at how the previous one (in 2023) went 
Guess how many candidates there were in that election? Yes, exactly one, and Infantino "won the election" 
FIFA is a bastard mafia organization, everything is decided without elections. I don't know why they even formally hold them. Even if Infantino is replaced by someone else, it will most likely be a new bastard, not a transition to honest work.

200 FIFA members have voted for Giovanni Infantino to stay as FIFA president in 2027. There are 211 FIFA members so his election in March is fixed. Like the last election in 2023 Giovanni Infantino is the only candidate.  Member votes are allowed to show FIFA is a democratic body so why is he the only candidate.

[pawel7777]

Argentine coach, Lionel Scaloni, has recently complained about his team having an unfair disadvantage.
Argentina went through a difficult game against England and had 24 hours less to recover compared to Spain. On top of that, his team arrived to New York only around 11am on Fri and, due to press conferences etc, they were effectively forced to train in a very hot temperature at a time that was not convenient to them.

Scaloni has said:

We’re just now resting because we arrived last night around 11.00
Today, they forced us to train at a time we didn’t want.
But with the press conference and everything, we had to do a strange, quick training session, and we hardly got to try anything out.
We are focused on rest and based on that we will see how they arrive, because there are players who are not at 100%.

source: https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/18/argentina-complain-fifa-claim-spain-unfair-world-cup-final-advantage-29167684/

[Alpha Marine]

Why 64, maybe we should include all FIFA members to World Cup? No, people aren't hating change without a reason. It's because changes makes competition worse. World Cup should be competiton of best teams, we don't need more weak teams. With 48 teams group stage is already waste of time. Look, all Asian teams were eliminated early, same about African teams except Morocco. Do we really need to give extra spot for these confederations?

Can you tell me how this edition of the World Cup was different from the rest? Is this the first time all Asian and African teams were eliminated early? Why are you guys talking as if the weak teams came to the World Cup and made it worse? The small teams even performed well to an extent.
It's still the same top teams that qualified for the quarter-final stage and semi-finals, despite having a lot of weak countries that make the competition "worse".
Making it 64 teams is not what will make the competition weak because it will be exactly as it was this year. The only difference is that there will be no "best third teams". All the qualified teams will move to the round of 32, just like it was in the last one.

People hate change. They may look for other reasons as much as they want, but that is the truth. They like things to remain the way it is. It's the same complaint about the UCL's new format.
There are over 200 FIFA countries, so taking only 64 would not be a ridiculous thing.

[sergiorus]

Why 64, maybe we should include all FIFA members to World Cup? No, people aren't hating change without a reason. It's because changes makes competition worse. World Cup should be competiton of best teams, we don't need more weak teams. With 48 teams group stage is already waste of time. Look, all Asian teams were eliminated early, same about African teams except Morocco. Do we really need to give extra spot for these confederations?

Can you tell me how this edition of the World Cup was different from the rest? Is this the first time all Asian and African teams were eliminated early? Why are you guys talking as if the weak teams came to the World Cup and made it worse? The small teams even performed well to an extent.
It's still the same top teams that qualified for the quarter-final stage and semi-finals, despite having a lot of weak countries that make the competition "worse".
Making it 64 teams is not what will make the competition weak because it will be exactly as it was this year. The only difference is that there will be no "best third teams". All the qualified teams will move to the round of 32, just like it was in the last one.

People hate change. They may look for other reasons as much as they want, but that is the truth. They like things to remain the way it is. It's the same complaint about the UCL's new format.
There are over 200 FIFA countries, so taking only 64 would not be a ridiculous thing.

Well you'll always have such discussions when teams like Italy or Serbia aren't qualified yet New Zealand and Curacao are.

People wanna watch high skilled football, they don't care about diversity or inclusivity.

Besides these few super weak teams just add the element of lottery - whoever gets to be with the group with them is almost guaranteed to have less intense games, less chance of an injury, less exhaustion etc etc

[MorganaX]

FIFA rules must be equal for every team. Did you notice the words people use about Giovanni Infantino they make Sepp Blatter look like an angel. How is FIFA getting a clean name in the future if people say matches are fixed and FIFA is dirty with corruption. How many years will Giovanni Infantino head FIFA.

The next FIFA presidential "election" will take place in 2027. But to understand what kind of "election" it will be, you need to look at how the previous one (in 2023) went 
Guess how many candidates there were in that election? Yes, exactly one, and Infantino "won the election" 
FIFA is a bastard mafia organization, everything is decided without elections. I don't know why they even formally hold them. Even if Infantino is replaced by someone else, it will most likely be a new bastard, not a transition to honest work.

200 FIFA members have voted for Giovanni Infantino to stay as FIFA president in 2027. There are 211 FIFA members so his election in March is fixed. Like the last election in 2023 Giovanni Infantino is the only candidate.  Member votes are allowed to show FIFA is a democratic body so why is he the only candidate.

Well that's some crazy statistics, I mean how possible is it that only one man get to come out in elections, I don't know how the whole body is set out and the criteria for qualifications but am certain that the governing body of FIFA or should I say the president seat shouldn't be something that is left for just man maintaining the factor of him winning an election that he can contest over and over again, I think it should be something like a tenur and they should be linit to the number of times you can come as the contestants for the post just like the office of president of a nation or something of sort.

[LTU_btc]

Can you tell me how this edition of the World Cup was different from the rest? Is this the first time all Asian and African teams were eliminated early? Why are you guys talking as if the weak teams came to the World Cup and made it worse? The small teams even performed well to an extent.
It's still the same top teams that qualified for the quarter-final stage and semi-finals, despite having a lot of weak countries that make the competition "worse".
Making it 64 teams is not what will make the competition weak because it will be exactly as it was this year. The only difference is that there will be no "best third teams". All the qualified teams will move to the round of 32, just like it was in the last one.

People hate change. They may look for other reasons as much as they want, but that is the truth. They like things to remain the way it is. It's the same complaint about the UCL's new format.
There are over 200 FIFA countries, so taking only 64 would not be a ridiculous thing.

From all teams that played in World Cup for the first time, only Cabo Verde left good impression. Can you tell me why we need to add more spots for weak teams? I would understand if there is plenty of very strong teams who fail to qualify. But now adding more teams would just reduce level of competition. In previous editions with 32 teams we had upsets when Germany or Brazil were eliminatedalready after group stage. Now chances for such upsets is isalmost impossible.
Also, this year duration of World Cup is 5 weeks, instead of usual 5 weeks. With 64 teams they would need to extend tournament even more. Then there would be no break between previous season, World Cup and and new season. Players would have no time to rest.
I'm not someone who don't like changes. When UEFA changed EURO teams from 16 to 24 I liked it a lot because IMO it's optimal number. Though, I still didn't decided whether I like new Champions league format or I prefer previous one.

[asriloni]

This is world cup recap from the current period. I guess 48 teams are manageable. It also gives vibes that so many teams can participate. I also don't think this is too much. I think FIFA has to retain the current total participants.

If they're willing to increase it to the 64 teams. They have to think about the chaos that may happen when they do it. I believe the current format is not overstuffed.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

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.

The increase number of participating team in the world Cup is a major improvement that shouldnt go unnoticed and unappreciated, this year's fifa World Cup tournament was really a big one and honestly speaking, fifa did their best to ensure the world at large enjoy a free and fair game, I congratulate the new world Cup champions which is Spain, it a well deserved win.

Now going back the increase number of participation in the world, personally, I wish the world Cup was still on even now because I've not had enough of the excitement yet, but it's already gone and we have to wait till 2030 for another world Cup experience.
I will love it still if in the 2030 world Cup, fifa would still open the floor and increase the participating countries again, I believe that every country in the world with a national football team really deserves a chance at winning the cup, this is one tournament that helps bring together and united the world as one.

[B-BossMan]

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.

The increase number of participating team in the world Cup is a major improvement that shouldnt go unnoticed and unappreciated, this year's fifa World Cup tournament was really a big one and honestly speaking, fifa did their best to ensure the world at large enjoy a free and fair game, I congratulate the new world Cup champions which is Spain, it a well deserved win.

Now going back the increase number of participation in the world, personally, I wish the world Cup was still on even now because I've not had enough of the excitement yet, but it's already gone and we have to wait till 2030 for another world Cup experience.
I will love it still if in the 2030 world Cup, fifa would still open the floor and increase the participating countries again, I believe that every country in the world with a national football team really deserves a chance at winning the cup, this is one tournament that helps bring together and united the world as one.

Indeed this year's FIFA world was a great and a tournament to be remembered in the further history. I love the increase numbers of the participants seriously despite my country couldn't make to this 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, they were eliminated from the world qualifier,but I believe they would work hard against next season. It's good to be seeing new new faces or countries journey the world cup tournament,because football ball is all about love sharing and the world cup is also part of the things that united us together as one family . This 2026 world cup was fairly enough though to some extent.We hope to see many more ahead and a big Congratulations to Spain players and the Spain at large, this final would very final match Argentina will never regret.

[pawel7777]

An interesting BBC article about financial winners and losers of the current World Cup, which is the biggest in history:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrkek8lrzvo

A short summary:

Winners:

- FIFA: Expected to generate a record revenue, mostly due to the expansion of the number of participating countries, but also to other factors.
- Broadcasters and Sponsors: high viewership and advertising revenue. More exposure to the advertisers. "Hydration breaks" and more games created much more room for advertisement.
- David Beckham: including him was probably a bit of satire on BBC's part, but apparently he was in very high demand for ad campaigns, especially in the USA. This includes Adidas using an AI version of him.
- Merchandise Sellers - some of them, like Nike, have reported more than double sales as compared to the previous 2022 tournament.
- Betting Companies - World Cup 2026 is set to be the biggest gambling event ever, with an average of around $500 million per game.

Losers

- Fans: high ticket prices: Dynamic pricing pushed costs up. Additional expenses, incl. some services jacking up prices, like New Jersey transit raising train fares from $12.90 to $150 (!)
- Host Cities: minimal long-term benefits despite short-term boost. A drop in regular tourism. No major infrastructure development.
- Hotels: lower-than-expected bookings. Booking spiked only around specific match dates but not in the wider time-frame.

[SensitiveEyes]

FIFA rules must be equal for every team. Did you notice the words people use about Giovanni Infantino they make Sepp Blatter look like an angel. How is FIFA getting a clean name in the future if people say matches are fixed and FIFA is dirty with corruption. How many years will Giovanni Infantino head FIFA.

The next FIFA presidential "election" will take place in 2027. But to understand what kind of "election" it will be, you need to look at how the previous one (in 2023) went 
Guess how many candidates there were in that election? Yes, exactly one, and Infantino "won the election" 
FIFA is a bastard mafia organization, everything is decided without elections. I don't know why they even formally hold them. Even if Infantino is replaced by someone else, it will most likely be a new bastard, not a transition to honest work.

200 FIFA members have voted for Giovanni Infantino to stay as FIFA president in 2027. There are 211 FIFA members so his election in March is fixed. Like the last election in 2023 Giovanni Infantino is the only candidate.  Member votes are allowed to show FIFA is a democratic body so why is he the only candidate.

Well that's some crazy statistics, I mean how possible is it that only one man get to come out in elections, I don't know how the whole body is set out and the criteria for qualifications but am certain that the governing body of FIFA or should I say the president seat shouldn't be something that is left for just man maintaining the factor of him winning an election that he can contest over and over again, I think it should be something like a tenur and they should be linit to the number of times you can come as the contestants for the post just like the office of president of a nation or something of sort.

FIFA’s running one man elections because they want to install Giovanni Infantino in 2027. They did the same in the last FIFA election and they are doing it again to keep him as president. He has been FIFA’s president 3 times since 2016 so FIFA should limit the presidential terms. Elections should be fair.