DOHA: Having just delivered arguably the most exciting group stage ever seen at a World Cup, FIFA are reportedly set to reconsider their plans for the 2026 World Cup.
The tournament is expanding from 32 to 48 teams and FIFA had earlier proposed 16 groups of three teams each.
Alternative formats are now on the table, with the FIFA Council, the organisation’s all-powerful cabinet, to decide next year.
Reuters reports that football’s world governing body will consider alternative formats after concerns arose about the increased possibility of ‘boring’ dead-rubber matches and unsporting behaviour.
Solutions advanced by FIFA’s head of global football Arsene Wenger include 12 groups of four, with the best third-placed teams heading through with the top two or separating the competition into two halves of 24 teams each, with six groups of four teams, the winner of each half meeting in the final.
The new format would be a substantial increase in matches played, with the 32-team World Cup in Qatar having 64 matches completed in 29 days.
The current plans would have 80 matches played over 32 days, whilst four-team groups would require an extra week with 104 matches.
There, FIFA runs the risk of tilting the delicate balance of all-consuming excitement that the World Cup has proven in Qatar into a drawn-out affair that loses its lustre with the quality of entertainment diluted, reuters reports.
However, more matches would mean more television rights money and – as the World Cup brings in some 90 per cent of FIFA’s revenue – its leaders could be tempted.
