The groups will become 12 of 4 teams each: the first two of each group and the 8 best third-placed players will go to the round of 32 (until now the knockout phase started from the round of 16).
The FIFA Council met before the 73rd congress in Kigali, Rwanda, approved the new format of the 2026 World Cup and the Club World Cup which will take place every year and every four years (from 2025), but also punctuated the international calendar by merging the windows for the national teams in September and October. Here are the main decisions in detail.
WORLD CUP
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The next World Cup will take place in 2026 and will be hosted by three nations: the United States, Canada and Mexico. It will conclude with the final on 19 July. In total there will be 104 matches, 40 more than those played a few months ago in Qatar. The players will have to reach their national teams on May 25, the date by which the national championships and European cups must be concluded (the latter can get a … postponement until the 30th with the approval of Fifa). The participating national teams will be 48 and will be divided into 12 groups of 4 formations each. The top two in each group and the eight best third-placed teams will advance to the round. In doing so, the round of 32 will be introduced, while until now the knockout phase started from the round of 16. To lift the cup, therefore, it will be necessary to play 8 matches and not 7. ‘other”.
WINDOWS
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From 2026 onwards, the calendar of men’s international matches will be different from the current one: there will be a window for national teams in March (9 days; 2 matches), one in June (9 days, 2 matches which will be two friendlies in the years in which there will be World or European Championships), one in September/early October (16 days, four matches), one in November (9 days, two matches). In this way, the needs of the clubs will be met which saw their members leave, also with the direction of South America, both in September and in October to play matches with their respective national teams. The detailed calendar of men’s international matches 2025-2030 will be published in the coming days.
WORLD CLUBS
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On the Club World Cup, Fifa has added to what will continue to be played every season, a “special” that will be staged every four years and will see 32 teams at the start. The first “special” edition will be that of 2025. In the annual Club World Cup, the novelty introduced from the 2024 edition onwards is that the finalist of the Champions League will have direct access to the final where they will challenge the winner of the playoffs which will be played between the teams from other confederations. The new format of the Club World Cup every four years, however, will have 12 slots for Europe, 6 for South America, 4 for Asia, Africa and North America, 1 for Oceania and 1 for the country host of the event. For Europe, for example, the winners of the 2021-22 (Real), 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-2025 Champions Leagues will participate in the 2025 edition plus additional teams which will be determined by a club classification based on results obtained in the same four-year period. To understand how many formations will be added on the basis of this ranking (8, 9, 10 or 11, if Real made a sensational Champions poker) it will be necessary to see who will raise the next 3 editions of the big-eared cup to the sky.
March 14, 2023 (change March 14, 2023 | 18:42)
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