The NEW 2026 World Cup Format EXPLAINED!

The revised format that I go through has been confirmed by FIFA, just now!!!! Right on time.

I'm old enough to remember World Cup '94. The 12 teams of 4 feels like a reversion to the 6 groups of 4 of those days and the look at the third place tables wondering who might qualify as best 3rd placed. I remembered loving the expansion to 32 teams. The final group match drama is something that won't be as well replicated in the 48 team format unless the World Cup gets expanded again to 64. The moving of some of the drama to the third place table is going to take away some of that final group matches excitement. That said, I think the 12 groups of four is a much better format than 16 groups of three and I hope that is the final decided format in the 48 team edition.

hey I always will remember Austria and Germany getting the score that got them both through at the expense of Algeria and Chile in Spain '82... and seeing fans waving money implying a fix ... and seeing that after about eleven minutes neither team really seemed to be trying to score another goal

12 groups of 4. Take top two teams from each group for a knockout round of 24 teams, whereas 8 teams with the best points get a one game bye while the remaining 16 play each other, and the winners play the previously idle 8 teams. That way to qualify for the knockout round, a team is only compared to its own group. The teams getting the byes would be compared to other groups, but hey, it ain't gonna be perfect.

The pictures used were perfect for each topic 👍

I much prefer this format to the one originally proposed back in 2018. Groups of 3 teams aren’t as exciting

Someone probably said this but: 12 groups of 4, top 2 qualify, random draw for 6 groups of 4, of which the top 2 (12 teams) and top 4 third place teams (16 teams total) go into a 16 team knockout. So a second group stage

Great video dude! Fantastic explanations

This will be the best world cup with the new format set to expand!

the good thing about the bottom spots being "play in" spots is that even if they're not great, at least they'll have some momentum

I like 12 groups of 4. On June 25, 1982 in Spain, Germany and Austria stroked each other the entire 2nd half of their final group match after Germany went up 1-0 in the opening half, putting both teams through to the elimination round, screwing over Algeria. It was a shameful World Cup moment. Since then, Game 3 group games have been played simultaneously.

Here's my format suggestion. Keep it at 16 groups of 3, but each team plays their matches against a different group. Group A vs Group B, Group C vs Group D etc. Each team still plays 3 group matches and the final round of fixtures can still be played simultaneously. (There would than be 3 simultaneous games instead of 2) The top 2 in each group play each other in the R/O 32 etc.

Thank you very much, I finally understand the format of ms 2026, now I realize that it will be a great 48 teams, I can hope that whether it will be my country Slovakia or our brother country Czech Republic, besides I will watch night after night

12 groups of four all day long. I means no team is mathematically out after two games. which means theres plenty to play for even if you lose your first two games. I remember this format from the 86, 90 and 94 world cups and missed it when they moved to the 32 game format.

Seed the teams and the group winners of the groups featuring the top 8 teams advance to the round of 16 directly. The remaining four group winners and the second place teams play in the round of 32 with the winners advancing to play the already placed teams. No 3rd place teams will advance and the likely winner of the World Cup - assuming they are a top 8 ranked team and win their group would only have to play 7 games to win.

I’m still confused about matches taking place in three countries. Where will the final be hosted? Will the competing squads not have to move around once we get through knockout rounds? Say for example your team advances past knockouts, would you have to go to another country to watch their matches?

“The Interconfederation playoff” voice over startled me hahah

With groups of 3, you need to add another knock out round. Group winners advance directly to the round of 32, while 2nd place teams play 3rd place from another group for the other 16 spots. Advantages: 1) Gives real stakes to winning your group (get a rest week instead of an elimination game) so final round match fixing becomes less likely 2) every team still gets 3 games minimum 3) every team is on the field when they are eliminated. You have to lose to get knocked out. 4) Group winners play the same number of games that they did in 2022, just replacing one group game with a knockout game. 5) Unlike the new format, there's no semi meaningless cross group comparisons that are largely decided by running up the score on bad teams

Thanks great video

My Format: Groups: 8 groups of 6. Top 4 advance from each advance. 32 teams remain Swiss Format: Win three games to advance. 16 teams remain Single Elimination to the winner of the world cup. I like this format as I think its the most fair for everyone and makes depth more important. The problem is the number of matches.