FIFA World Cup 2026 format: Everything you need to know

The competition will see 48 nations playing next year.

The United States, Canada, and Mexico will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Here are some details regarding the tournament’s structure.

How does the 2026 FIFA World Cup format work?

48 teams (including placeholders) will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each by today’s 2026 FIFA World Cup draw. In the group stage, each team will be playing three games, one against each team in its group.

Similar to prior years, the top two teams in each group move on to the knockout stage. However, an extra round of knockout matches will result from the tournament’s expansion from 32 teams. There will be 32 teams that make it out of the group stage, as opposed to the 16 that have advanced to the first knockout round since 1998.

This implies that the top eight third-place teams will proceed in addition to the twelve group winners and twelve second-place teams. The groups from which the eight third-place teams come will determine the precise round of 32 matchups.

Winner-take-all matchups make up the knockout stage, which continues till the final match. A penalty shootout will be used to decide the outcome of a contest that is deadlocked after 30 minutes of extra time, which is divided into two 15-minute halves.

What are the tiebreakers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage?

The following tiebreakers are used in order if three or more nations finish tied on group phase points.

The procedure that will happen:

1. The majority of points earned in the group games between the participating teams.
2. A higher goal differential between the nations involved in the group games.
3. The majority of goals scored in the group games between the participating teams.

The same tie-breakers are used once more, but just for the games involving those teams, if any teams are still tied.

The following criteria are then used to break ties. Additionally, these are the first tiebreakers that apply to ties involving just two teams.

1. Superior goal difference in all group matches2. Most goals scored in all group matches3. Highest team conduct (“fair play”) score in all group matches4. FIFA world ranking

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