FIFA Expands 2026 World Cup Again to Create 104-Game Program

Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup. (Reuters)
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FIFA Expands 2026 World Cup Again to Create 104-Game Program

Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup. (Reuters)

The expanded World Cup in North America got even more supersized on Tuesday.

The governing body of football increased the size of the 2026 tournament for the second time — six years after the first — by approving a bigger group stage for the inaugural 48-team event.

By retaining groups of four teams instead of moving to three, FIFA has created a 104-game schedule that will last nearly six weeks in June-July in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The 16 host cities — 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada — now have 24 extra games to stage on top of the 80 they already had for the inaugural 48-team tournament.

Adding about 1.5 million more tickets will also further fuel FIFA’s expected record revenue of at least $11 billion through 2026 from a tournament that will rely on using high-revenue NFL stadiums.

FIFA said the decision followed a “thorough review that considered sporting integrity, player welfare, team travel, commercial and sporting attractiveness, as well as team and fan experience.”

The latest push by FIFA president Gianni Infantino for more games and bigger events in a congested calendar will likely provoke more concern among stakeholders such as domestic leagues and players' union FIFPRO. They have long felt isolated from talks on football’s future.

The six-week World Cup will start one year after FIFA launches a 32-team Club World Cup, which could also be staged in North America to test tournament logistics. The Champions League in Europe also has a new format with more teams and games in the 2024-25 season.

The new World Cup format will have 12 groups of four teams instead of 16 groups of three, the plan chosen in 2017. Both options were to go to a 32-team knockout round. The final will take place on July 19.

The format guarantees every World Cup team will play a minimum of three times instead of two, adding up to a stacked group stage totaling 72 games before arriving at the knockout rounds. The four semifinalists will play eight matches, one more than last year in Qatar.

The entire 2022 World Cup in Qatar amounted to 64 games in the seventh and last edition of the 32-team format. The 1998 World Cup in France was the first with 32 teams.



Sweet Dreams Power Cobolli’s Wimbledon Surge

Italy's Flavio Cobolli celebrates after victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic during their men's singles fourth round tennis match on the eighth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 7, 2025. (AFP)
Italy's Flavio Cobolli celebrates after victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic during their men's singles fourth round tennis match on the eighth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 7, 2025. (AFP)
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Sweet Dreams Power Cobolli’s Wimbledon Surge

Italy's Flavio Cobolli celebrates after victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic during their men's singles fourth round tennis match on the eighth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 7, 2025. (AFP)
Italy's Flavio Cobolli celebrates after victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic during their men's singles fourth round tennis match on the eighth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 7, 2025. (AFP)

Flavio Cobolli is living proof that, at Wimbledon, a good night’s sleep might be the ultimate performance enhancer.

The 23-year-old Italian crashed into his first Grand Slam quarter-final on Monday with a fearless win over Marin Cilic and was quick to credit his new, improved lodgings for feeling great.

Cobolli, who has been wielding his fluorescent orange racket with the bravado of a man on a mission, revealed afterwards that his Wimbledon campaign nearly derailed over that classic London problem: the flat that just was not quite right.

“I had some problem with my first house but now I find the great solution. I slept well. I have a great relationship with the guy that I rent the apartment. Now I'm in good shape,” he grinned.

Pressed for details, Cobolli confessed it was less luxury penthouse and more hot box at the start. “Was too hot and a little bit small. But yeah, now I found the right solution,” he explained, with a shrug that said it all. A quick switch, a friendly landlord, and suddenly Cobolli was sleeping soundly.

With the off-court drama sorted, the on-court heroics followed: Cobolli carved up Cilic in four sets, looking every inch the man at home in SW19. Sometimes all it takes to become a Wimbledon quarter-finalist is a bigger room, a cooler breeze —and a landlord who answers his phone.