It came less than 12 months after Gianni Infantino took over from Sepp Blatter as president that Fifa confirmed the men’s World Cup would grow from 32 to 48 teams. The response was divided. Diego Maradona expressed delight at Gianni’s plan since it gave every nation a chance to picture reaching the finals and revived their love for the game. Joachim Löw, then leading world champions Germany, remarked: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to dilute the sporting value … In the long term, the quality suffers.”

Based on the first 48-team edition, claimed by Spain after 104 matches over five-and-a-half weeks in North America, it seems reasonable to say both Maradona and Löw were partly right.

Cape Verde lead new faces

“Football is more than Europe and South America; football is global,” Infantino declared after the 48-team plan was revealed in 2017, and the 2026 World Cup clearly highlighted the game’s worldwide reach. Africa and Asia gained most from the extra qualifying spots and all four first-time entrants made an impact. Livano Comenencia’s equaliser for Curaçao against Germany stood out in the group phase while Cape Verde provided the tournament’s standout underdog tale, even without a victory.

The extra 32 slots also allowed six countries to reach the knockout rounds at a World Cup for the first time, with Egypt and Canada securing their first wins at that stage. Given Infantino’s likely plan to share the event’s record income among Fifa members, it is reasonable to suggest the smaller nations - particularly those drawing on previously untapped talent abroad - will grow stronger in coming editions.

Gulf in class

A larger field brought bigger differences between group-stage sides. At the previous 32-team finals in Qatar, Brazil against Haiti marked the widest gap with 77 places separating them in the rankings. This time five group matches featured gaps exceeding 65 spots. A few stayed close - England 0-0 Ghana, Spain 0-0 Cape Verde - yet major sides faced little risk of an upset or an early exit like the ones endured by defending champions Spain in 2014 or Germany in 2018. A weak Uruguay side became the sole big-name casualty.

While Costa Rica posted the poorest goal difference in 2022 (-8), five teams equalled or exceeded that mark in 2026. Iraq (-11) finished bottom in Group I - the nearest the 48-team setup came to a group of death alongside France, Norway and Senegal, all of whom advanced as expected. The slower group phase at least gave stars such as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi time to build form in a notable chase for the Golden Boot.

Flawed third-place system

After the tension of the 2022 group phase, where only two sides (roughly 6%) were eliminated before the last round of matches, Fifa abandoned three-team groups for the 48-team event and kept four-team groups, sending eight third-placed teams into the last 32. This did not fully remove concerns over possible collusion or the edge held by teams playing later who knew exactly what they needed.

Knockout match-ups could shift quickly too. When Riyad Mahrez gave Algeria a 3-2 lead against Austria in the 93rd minute of their final Group J game, Algeria stood to finish second and meet Spain in the last 32. After conceding an equaliser in the 96th minute they instead faced Switzerland on the opposite side of the bracket. Third-placed sides such as Scotland and their supporters also waited several days before learning their tournament was over.

With head-to-head results replacing goal difference as the first tie-breaker, five teams (about 10%) were already out before their final group match, leaving the third-place rule to create a false sense that all remained in play.

What about 64 teams?

Infantino again highlighted the need to run the World Cup “not just for Europe and South America” when he floated the idea of a 64-team event. Adding 16 more nations - yet only 24 extra games - appears a natural move for Fifa if it wishes to drop the third-place rule and return to a top-two-advance format. Some tension would return, though the quality gap inside groups would widen further.

Teams such as New Caledonia (ranked 151) and Indonesia (118) reached late qualifying rounds for 2026 and could enter with larger allocations. How would they cope against Spain or Argentina? With the top 16 sides all in one pot, high-profile group matches - already scarce this time - would likely disappear. England 4-2 Croatia would not have occurred under a 64-team format.

There is also the practical challenge of staging four matches daily across a three-week group phase, many in summer heat in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Of the 23 proposed venues only the updated Bernabéu and Camp Nou would offer cover. Further growth will certainly be debated in the coming months.