World Cup 2026 - 48 teams

[PSV]

Alright, out of curiosity I took a look at it. Here's how I'd structure a 48 team tournament (apologies for my paint skills):

Constant excitement. Big clashes throughout the entire tournament due to the winners' bracket. No pointless games. No draws. Also, no ET until Ro16, straight to pens. 2 "lives" until Ro16.

In terms of logistics there's shadow-groups of 4 (or 8) teams.

 

[Physiocrat]

Alright, out of curiosity I took a look at it. Here's how I'd structure a 48 team tournament (apologies for my paint skills):

Constant excitement. Big clashes throughout the entire tournament due to the winners' bracket. No pointless games. No draws. Also, no ET until Ro16, straight to pens. 2 "lives" until Ro16.

In terms of logistics there's shadow-groups of 4 (or 8) teams.

Now that is a much more interesting suggestion than FIFA's. Not sure how to do the lucky loser - goal difference isn't a bad idea.

 

[Vanrouge]

Exactly. It doesn't matter what it is, the first reactions are always moans about something new being introduced. Happened with VAR, happened with 5 substitutions, etc.

People don't even wait to see how things pan out or even sit back a few seconds and weight with some thoughts of whether it's actually a good or bad idea. The immediate reaction is always "let's complain" because new things apparently equal bad and the game being destroyed. I'm not even sure if most folks realize that a lot about the game is vastly different from when it was played, said in the 1950s, whether it's the rules of the game or competitions.

Yeah, so many people literally kneejerk. It really is like an unconscious reflex. And the thing is, so many of the changes to the game (not having to roll the ball forward from a kickoff, changing the back pass rule to the keeper, goal line technology, etc.) have turned out fine. The weird thing is, people will do it with everything: changes in language use, for example. It's almost like there's some innate part of humans that reacts instantly and in a hostile way to change, although some of us apparently missed out on that gene!

 

[DutchSerb]

Alright, out of curiosity I took a look at it. Here's how I'd structure a 48 team tournament (apologies for my paint skills):

Constant excitement. Big clashes throughout the entire tournament due to the winners' bracket. No pointless games. No draws. Also, no ET until Ro16, straight to pens. 2 "lives" until Ro16.

In terms of logistics there's shadow-groups of 4 (or 8) teams.

I love it. Especially the no draws. It's the biggest issue I have with tournaments.

 

[CallyRed]

Alright, out of curiosity I took a look at it. Here's how I'd structure a 48 team tournament (apologies for my paint skills):

Constant excitement. Big clashes throughout the entire tournament due to the winners' bracket. No pointless games. No draws. Also, no ET until Ro16, straight to pens. 2 "lives" until Ro16.

In terms of logistics there's shadow-groups of 4 (or 8) teams.

I like this, I would send it to FIFA and address it to Infantino himself.

 

[saivet]

Not a fan of the 3rd place spots going through, like at the Euros, I think as it's makes the group stages quite boring, as if you win your first game, you're effectively going through. That said, I think it does add some interest too, with teams who have been shit they usually can salvage something based on the final game where something is on the line. With two teams going through, you can get two sets of dead rubber games with two teams already through and two teams out.

Hoping this will be the first World Cup I attend in any case!

 

[tentan]

Not a fan of the 3rd place spots going through, like at the Euros, I think as it's makes the group stages quite boring, as if you win your first game, you're effectively going through. That said, I think it does add some interest too, with teams who have been shit they usually can salvage something based on the final game where something is on the line. With two teams going through, you can get two sets of dead rubber games with two teams already through and two teams out.

Yeah its way too flawed. Some group winners get to play easier teams(teams who finished 3rd) while others have to play runner-ups.