FIFA Council: Worldcup 2026 and beyond will include 48 teams

[kia]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPGbr1OBH5Y/

And as usual the comment section is filled with Iranians

LOL at this:
__theory_@thomas.14 when Persian Empire had 60℅ of the world about 2500 years ago the fuckin england wasn't exist 😂😂

[milad_b]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPGbr1OBH5Y/

And as usual the comment section is filled with Iranians

The Owner and founder of Lad Bible is iranian . Thats why you see so many posts about iran on their pages.

[ehsan singapore]

this is bad news, we need a world cup where the best team qualify, not 48 team where half of them will be garbage

[persianfire]

Sixteen additional spots and only 4-5 of those are allocated to Europe and South America. What a load of bollocks. It might be great for the likes of Uzbekistan, Iraq, Canada, New Zealand and Togo, but teams like Ireland, Serbia, Turkey and Peru are far more likely to make it a much more competitive and better tournament.

[Super Shojaei]

This move by FIFA was largely made to benefit Europe and South America

actually I think north America and Asia benefit the most from this. Even nations like el salvador and Nicaragua will fancy a go at the world cup. I think this move has been made to appease countries like Saudi the UAE Qatar and most of all china. There's no way our continent deserves 8 spots

[Super Shojaei]

this is bad news, we need a world cup where the best team qualify, not 48 team where half of them will be garbage

it basically makes qualification boring and uninteresting if you're a fan of the big 4 Asian teams. It also means iran could be knocked out after 2 matches in the actual world cup.I think this would ruin football for me

[saeed_noro]

now even israel has a real chance to qualify... and Iran has the chance to kick israel on world stage...

[GoIran]

Bad news if penalty shootouts could be introduced to decide drawn group matches. Our players aren't that strong mentally and we always fail in penalty shootouts at the Asian Cup.

[Iranianarsenal11]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x88Z5txBc7w

WC 2026 summed up

[YeCheesi Tala]

Well fuck...they found a way to make Asian football less entertaining.

[Sly]

There's no way our continent deserves 8 spots

What makes you think Asia will get 8 spots?

[saeed_noro]

Asia and Africa will get more slots compared to others. This was reported. Europe not so much more.

realistic slots:

Europe 16
(each WC group one European team is Fair; actually is 14 ; +2 slots)

South America 6
(6 out of 10 teams = 60%; actually is 4.5 ; +1,5 slots)

Africa 10
(10 out of 53 teams; most FIFA-Member, actually is 5; +5 slots)

Asia 8
(8 out of 45 teams; actually is 4.5; +3,5 slots)

North America 6
(6 out of 35 teams; actually is 3.5; +2,5 slots)

Ozeanien (2 or 1.5, because New Zealand will do it 90% regularly, so another oceanian team should have the chance to qualify, now is 0.5 ; +1,5 or +2)

Conclusion:


* Would make sense if 16 European teams qualify every World cup, so that POT 1 will be European pot, and every group will include ONE European team. this guarantee all teams from all over the world the chance to play against one European qualifier, and this is good for every nation in the world to mess up with one European team.

* Other possible Pots: South America (6) and Africa (10) = 16 teams

* Asia (8), North America (6) , Oceania (2) =16 teams.

But also a FREE DRAW is logical: All other teams in one BIG POT and a FREE DRAW. (Rule: If one nation from one continent is drawn to one group, no other nation from this continent can be draw into this group ---> automatically to the next free group/slot.

[Doctor DOOM]

WC is now Ruined. At least the brand is ruined.
This has effectively removed any sense of exclusivity from WC.
48 teams qualifying from around 200 nations is about a quarter of the world. Now any Tom, Dick and Qatari idiot can claim to have a WC qualifications under their belt!!!

Horrible decision

[Babak agha]

^makes sense

[Zamboor]

The potential in this is huge, for those who dont see it this opens up for the Asian countries that joined UEFA to join AFC, like turkey, azerbaijan, armenia, georgia, kazakhstan and so on.

plus this makes this more in to a world cup than an europan vs south american cup feat asia/africa

for progress of world football this is huge, europeans have been blessed with more spots more money more progress for centuries, now this is going to give others a chance.