FIFA under fire for World Cup expansion

The 2026 World Cup — co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada — just got a little bigger. After months of debate, FIFA has confirmed that the 2026 Cup will increase from 32 to 48 teams, initially sorted into 12 groups of four.

This represents a significant move from FIFA's initial proposal, which involved 48 teams competing in 16 groups of three. 

"The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion," FIFA said of the change, "and ensures that all teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams."

While many have rejoiced at FIFA's return to four-team groups, some in the soccer world balked at the tournament's increased size. The World Cup has featured just 32 teams since 1998, and FIFA's new, larger tournament will feature 104 matches instead of the traditional 64.

FIFA claimed that its changes were based on "a thorough review that considered sporting integrity, player welfare, team travel, commercial and sporting attractiveness, as well as team and fan experience," but soccer officials around the world disagree.

Per Reuters (h/t The Guardian), La Liga, the extremely popular domestic league in Spain, noted: 

"FIFA continues its malpractice of making unilateral decisions on the world football calendar, showing compete disregard for the importance of national championships, and the football community in general. FIFA neglects the economic impact these decisions inflict on leagues around the world. Leagues were not consulted about any of the changes presented."

After a difficult winter 2022 World Cup that split domestic seasons in half, leagues such as La Liga are right to feel aggrieved.

Longer international tournaments are hard on players and can result in increased injury lists. Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig have been without their star players (Lucas Hernandez and Christopher Nkunku) for months after they suffered injuries at the 2022 World Cup.

Maheta Molango, the CEO of the Professional Footballers' Association, had harsh truths for FIFA regarding that injury risk.

"The expanded World Cup format means that once again more games are being forced into an already overcrowded schedule," he said, per Reuters (h/t ESPN). "We know that the current workload players face is having an impact on their well-being. We can't simply push them until they break."