The FIFA World Cup is arguably one of the most competitive footballing events, with its popularity reaching new heights with every edition. The first edition of the tournament was played in Uruguay in 1930.
In this piece, we discuss the entire structure of the FIFA World Cup.
1. Number of Teams to Play in the World Cup
The inaugural event began in 1930, with 13 teams qualifying in that edition. During 1942 and 1946, the World Cup wasn’t held due to the Second World War.
From 1934 to 1978, 16 teams participated in the event, except in 1938, when 15 teams participated when Austria was merged into Germany.
As the game spread across other continents, the 1982 edition witnessed the participation of 24 teams, which saw the arrival of countries from North America, South America, Central America, Africa, and Asia.
Teams from these regions, like Mexico, Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, the USA, etc., started to impress, making their way into the quarter-finals. Mexico made it to the 1986 quarter-finals, while Senegal and Ghana made it to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 editions.
Even Costa Rica made it to the quarter-finals of the 2014 edition, South Korea made it to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, and Morocco made it to the semifinals of the 2022 edition.
From the 1998 edition, 32 teams qualified for the final event. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, 198 nations battled it out for qualification.
Former French footballer and UEFA president Michael Platini once stated that he was eager to extend participation to 40 teams, and he wanted to give one berth to UEFA, two each to CAF & AFC, two shared berths to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, and one place to the Oceania Football Confederation.
Current FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated in October 2016 that he wanted a 48-team event in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and in January 2017 the decision to have 48 teams for the 2026 event was confirmed.
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2. Classification of Teams Into Groups
Qualifying games are held among nations of Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South & Central America, Oceania, and the Caribbean. FIFA takes the final decision on the number of places to be decided for nations of different continents depending on the strength of the teams.
The qualification process is played over a two-year phase before the tournament. Qualification formats vary depending on the confederations, and one or two places are provided to winners of intercontinental playoffs.
3. Scheduled Format of the Final Event
32 teams battle it out for a period of 30 days. There are 8 groups of 4 teams each.
A total of 8 teams are seeded, including the host country, while the other seeded teams are marked on the basis of their performances in previous World Cups, after which they are placed in different groups.
Teams are allotted different pots geographically, as teams in every pot are placed randomly into 8 groups. From the 1998 World Cup, limitations have been placed on the draw as no group should have more than two European teams or more than one side from another confederation.
Every team plays 3 round-robin games against opponents from its group. 6 games are played in one group.
The top 2 teams from every group go into the knockout rounds, and teams are ranked depending on their performances in the group stage through a points system.
3 points are given for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. 14 out of 40-point combinations are possible if there is a tie in points between the second and third-placed teams. In such instances, ranking is decided through:
1. Goal difference in all group games.
2. Combined goals scored in all group games.
3. If 2 or 3 team’s points are the same even after the above-mentioned criteria, their rankings will be determined through:
a. Highest number of points in head-to-head games between those teams.
b. Highest goal difference in head-to-head games between those teams.
c. Highest goals scored in head-to-head games between those two teams.
d. Points for fair play are taken into consideration depending on the number of red and yellow cards received during group games:
I. Minus 1 point for a yellow card
II. Minus 3 points for an indirect red card (due to a second yellow card)
III. Minus 4 points for a direct red card
IV: Minus 5 points for direct red and yellow cards
Even after determining these criteria, if the points of the teams are the same, then their ranking will be decided after drawing lots.
After this, there is the knockout stage, where teams face each other. Round of 16, quarter-finals, semifinals, third-place match (played between losing teams of both semifinals), and finals are all knockout games where games are extended to penalty shootouts and extra time if the scores are level after 90 minutes of play.
The next men’s FIFA World Cup in 2026 will feature 48 teams drawn in 12 groups of 4 teams each. The top 8 teams that finish third will be joining the runners-up and winners in a round of 32.
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