December 08-due to the expansion of the World Cup, the 2026 World Cup will last at least five weeks instead of four weeks, a move expected to infuriate European clubs and leagues, according to the latest report by Martyn Ziegler, chief correspondent of the Times.
The World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the number of participating countries will be changed from 32 to 48, but FIFA is reviewing its plan to be divided into 16 groups in the first stage, with three teams in each group and two teams in each group.
According to sources, 12 groups, each with four teams, is currently a favorite model for FIFA leaders-especially considering that the more games there are, the more television rights will be earned.
That means 104 games, compared with 64 for the Qatar World Cup. Experts say it will take at least 35 days to finish, compared with 29 days for this World Cup and 32 days for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. There is growing concern about the risks posed by a group of three teams because one of them will not be included on the last match day, which increases the risk that the other two teams will design results that suit their two teams.
The expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 means that the perfect symmetry of competition has been lost, but it does mean that the number of participants in Africa, Asia, Central and North America and the Caribbean will nearly double. This may explain why they supported FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to expand troops in 2017, rather than the top two of the 40 teams and five countries in eight groups recommended by FIFA’s reform committee.
There will be nine seats in Africa instead of five, eight in Asia (now 4.5), six in Central and North America (3.5), six in South America (4.5), 16 in Europe (13) and one in Oceania (0.5). That adds up to 46. Hosts the United States, Mexico and Canada will win three seats in Central and North America and the Caribbean, while the remaining two seats will be decided by the six-nation playoff as the host country’s test event.
Alex Phillips, who has been Uefa’s head of Asia and Europe for four years and is now an independent adviser to FIFA, believes that using a three-team group match system is too difficult, so the increase in matches will be inevitable.
Even if the 16-group 3-team system means 80 games, the 12-group 4-team system means 104 games-the top two in each group plus eight third-placed teams will enter the knockout stages of the top 32.
“everyone thinks that the World Cup with 48 teams will make the game worse, the quality of the game lower and the game more chaotic,” Phillips said in an interview with the Times. But do the positive effects outweigh the negative ones? That’s the problem.
At least as far as I can remember, we just saw the best match in the last round of the World Cup, so you can see why there is still a lot of support for the four-team group stage. The problem with the three-team system is obvious. one team did not play on the last day of the game, and the two teams that played were at risk of collusion-what happened between West Germany and Austria in 1982 shocked everyone.
Another important factor is that there are only two games, so if a team is unlucky, they may go home in a few days. ”
“from FIFA’s point of view, it means more television time and more money, but it is a problem for clubs, players, leagues and federations, and everyone will use it as bargaining material to get something in return.” He added: “one week of the year is very important for a national league like the Premier League.”