KIGALI: The expanded 2026 men’s World Cup in North America is going to start with 12 groups of four teams in a change from the originally planned format, Fifa announced recently. The next World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be the first to feature 48 teams, increase from the 32 sides at last year’s tournament in Qatar. Fifa’s initial plan for 2026 was for 16 groups of three teams, from which the top two countries would advance to the last 32. This means the top two in each group will go through to the knockout round along with the eight best third-placed sides. The finalists, and the teams finishing third and fourth, will play a total of eight games instead of the current seven.
