Al Ain Sports presents a detailed report on the 2026 World Cup system, which will witness the participation of 48 teams for the first time in history.
In October 2016, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) developed 4 options to change the World Cup tournament system, and 3 of these options referred to increasing the number of teams to 40, while the remaining option was aimed at increasing the number of teams to 48, and this last is which has been validated.
FIFA decided to implement the new system starting from the 2026 edition, which will bear the number 23 in the history of the World Cup.
This is the third time that the number of teams in the tournament has increased. The first time was in the 1982 World Cup and at that time the number of teams increased from 16 to 24, while the second time was in France 1998 and the number of teams increased to 32.
What is the starting date for the 2026 World Cup?
After the end of the Qatar World Cup 2022, attention will turn to a distinguished edition in 2026, with a new system according to the decision of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), following increasing the number of participating teams in the tournament to 48 teams.
The Qatar 2022 edition will be the last edition in which 32 teams will participate, but in the 2026 World Cup the situation will return to normal in terms of the start date of the competition, and the World Cup will be held in the summer at the end of most European and Arab leagues, as we are used to.
The next World Cup is scheduled to start in mid-June 2026, and will last a full month until mid-July 2026.
What is the host country for the 2026 World Cup?
In 2017, two official bids were submitted to host the 2026 World Cup, the first from Africa, specifically from Morocco, which tried to be the second Arab country to organize the global wedding, and the second bid was submitted by the North American Federation, which is a joint organization between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
During the same year, FIFA entrusted the task of organizing the tournament to the North American Federation (United States of America, Canada and Mexico), and this is the first time that the World Cup is held jointly organized by 3 countries, following it was held in 2002 with a joint organization of only two countries. South Korea and Japan.
The International Federation of Football Associations revealed that the 2026 World Cup matches will be held in 16 different cities between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
According to the offer submitted by the North American Confederation, the United States will host most of the tournament matches, while only 10 out of 80 matches will be distributed to Canada and Mexico.
What is the date of the 2026 World Cup draw?
As usual, the 2026 World Cup draw will be held regarding 6 months before the start of the tournament, that is, in December 2025, following the completion of the qualifiers around the world and the identification of the participating teams.
All continents will guarantee seats in the 2026 World Cup, with Europe 16, Africa 9, Asia 8, South America 6, North America 6 and Oceania 1.
The teams will be classified in the 2026 World Cup draw, according to their classification by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) during that period.
When do the 2026 World Cup qualifiers start?
The 2026 World Cup qualifiers system will be changed in each continent, because the number of participating teams from each continental confederation will increase according to the increase in the teams participating in the World Cup, and changing the system may cause a change in the date of the first round of qualifiers for each continent.
It is expected that the qualifiers will end on all continents by October 2025, provided that the lottery will be held in the same period as we mentioned previously.
What is the system for the 2026 World Cup?
By increasing the number of teams to 48 teams, the World Cup system will change starting from the 2026 edition, and according to press reports, the new system will divide the teams into 16 groups, each group includes 3 teams.
Each group, the leader and the runner-up, qualifies for the round of 32, and starting from this round, matches will be held according to the knockout system until the final match, and the competition will witness 80 matches from the first round until the final match.
According to the new tournament system, no two teams from the same group will face each other, starting from the round of 32 until the semi-finals, as a guarantee of diversity in each match.
FIFA may not proceed with the decision of 16 groups, and may change its first idea to approving a very long first stage, in which the teams are divided into 12 groups, each of which consists of 4 teams, then 32 teams qualify to start the elimination rounds.
What are the broadcast channels for the 2026 World Cup matches?
The BN Sports channel group has obtained the rights to broadcast the World Cup in the Middle East until 2030, and thus the Qatari network will broadcast the 2026 World Cup exclusively in the Middle East.
The Fox channel group will broadcast the 2026 World Cup in the United States, while in the United Kingdom, the broadcast rights have gone to the BBC and ITV networks, and they will be able to continue broadcasting the World Cup for the English.