World Cup 2022 Ends, Let's Welcome Bigger Party from FIFA

Illustration of the World Cup. (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Qatar's 2022 World Cup has ended with the Argentina national team as the champion. The success in Qatar did not make FIFA complacent and start preparing for the next big tournament, maybe even the biggest one.

As is known, four years from now, the 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States-Canada-Mexico. It will be the second time in history that the World Cup will be held under the co-hosting concept.

This happened for the first time in 2002 when South Korea and Japan hosted the event.

Several interesting notes are already ahead of the 2026 World Cup, one of which is the certainty that Mexico will become the first country to host the World Cup three times after 1970 and 1986.

The 2026 World Cup will also be the first World Cup to be participated in by 48 participating teams. The increase in the number of participants has practically made a difference in the group phase, which is now divided into 16 groups containing three teams.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage which starts with the last 32 rather than the last 16 so far.

With this format, the 2026 World Cup as a whole will hold 80 matches, increasing from 64 matches in 2022 and several previous editions.

FIFA has announced 16 stadiums in 16 cities that will be the venue for the 2022 World Cup matches. Two cities are in Canada, three cities are in Mexico, and the rest are in the United States.

Although 11 stadiums in the United States are used, none of them are "former" stadiums when Uncle Sam's country hosted the 1994 World Cup.

Of those 16 stadiums, only the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City hosted World Cup matches, namely in 1970 and 1986.

Until now, FIFA has not announced in which city the 2026 World Cup final will be held. With the existence of 11 stadiums, the final will likely be held in the United States.

The various changes that will definitely take place at the 2026 World Cup certainly promise a tournament to look forward to.

Opening Many New Opportunities

The addition of this participant opens up many new opportunities. Africa and Asia will be the continents that benefit the most from the expansion of the 48 teams.

Under the new format, Africa will receive nine qualifying slots for the final (versus the previous five) while Asia will get eight (from the previous 4.5).

Oceania, which normally has to go through a playoff to qualify for the World Cup, will have a direct place in the qualifiers.

For us Africans, this is a gift", said former Nigerian citizen Sunday Oliseh as quoted by AFP.

"I always thought (Africa) should send more representatives, the more you play, the more opportunities there are.

"This is a continent with a population of over one billion people. My country alone has a population of 200 million people.

"For us, seeing a bigger World Cup is stunning."

The addition of the African continent is good news for several big teams in the region. Egypt, Algeria, and Nigeria all failed to qualify for Qatar after being eliminated in qualifying.

European representatives will also increase, up to 16 teams from the previous 13. Meanwhile, South America will increase from 4.5 to six countries.

With Canada, the United States, and Mexico automatically qualifying as hosts, CONCACAF will get an additional three slots, bringing a total of six teams from that region.

Two other additional spots will be determined via playoffs.