FIFA expands, giving more slots to Africa, Asia, and Americas
Starting in 2026, the World Cup might finally look more like a tournament for the 鈥渨orld.鈥澛�
The governing body of the international competition, the FIFA, the worldwide soccer organization, announced on Thursday its proposed slot allocation for the recently enlarged 48-team tournament. The proposal, which gives significantly more spots to Africa, Asia, and the CONCACAF聽region (the FIFA federation for Central and North America and the Caribbean which includes the United State), highlights the growing incorporation聽from outside the traditional European and South American powerhouses into the global competition.
Under the new plan, still awaiting a final decision at the next FIFA council meeting in May, assigned CONCACAF聽six automatic qualifiers, up from its current three. Africa will get nine guaranteed spots 鈥� up from five 鈥� while Asia will receive eight, double its current quota of four.
Oceania, which includes such countries as New Zealand and other Pacific nations, will have one automatic place. Europe will also get 16 direct places, up from 13, and South America鈥檚 10-member confederation, CONMEBOL, will get six, instead of its current four.听
The host country will take one spot from the allocation of its confederation, as it will qualify automatically.听
In addition to the expansion in guaranteed spots, teams worldwide will also have the opportunity to compete in a six-team playoff tournament, which will decide the two remaining places. Each confederation, except the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), will have one team in the tournament, with an extra one from the continent of the host country. According to FIFA, the six-team playoff will possibly be held in the November before the finals.听
Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, said in a statement that he was 鈥渟atisfied" with the proposal.听
鈥淲e feel that UEFA will be fairly represented with a total of 16 national associations competing in the new format of the World Cup,鈥� he told Reuters. 鈥淲e look forward to this proposal being ratified by the FIFA Council.鈥�
The expansion of the tournament, which had only 16 teams in 1978, is long in the making. In 2013, UEFA's then-president Michel Platini expressed his hope to expand the slots to improve the game in places where the sport is underfunded.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 not based on the quality of the teams because you don鈥檛 have the best 32 at the World Cup. But it鈥檚 ,鈥� he told The Times of London in 2013. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a political matter so why not have more Africans? The competition is to bring all the people of all the world. If you don鈥檛 give the possibility to participate, they don鈥檛 improve.鈥�
The move may also underscore how much room the sport has to grow, including in聽the US.听
Being the 鈥淕rand Daddy of sporting events,鈥� the World Cup also draws an increasing amount of attention each time, as 海角大神 explained in 2014.听
However, the new plan has also drawn much criticism. Sports commentator Billy Haisley said the plot will 鈥渞uin the World Cup.鈥澛�
鈥淲丑补迟 is bad is they鈥檝e chosen. The reason the World Cup is such a massive event is because of its exclusivity. It only comes once every four years, involves only the best nations around the globe, and is extremely hard to advance because the competition is so stiff,鈥� he wrote on Deadspin on Friday. 鈥淭aking that lean 32-team format and ballooning it to 48, with the bulk of those new [additions] consisting of garbage teams, runs the risk of killing the golden goose."
This report includes material from Reuters.
