00:00For years, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has talked about getting more countries involved at a World Cup.
00:06That push finally took shape in January 2017, when football's governing body voted to expand the tournament from 32 to
00:1548 teams.
00:17Under the new format, there will be 104 matches at this World Cup. That's 40 more than at Qatar 2022.
00:24Those games will be played across 16 host cities in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
00:30That's a huge change from the compact 2022 tournament in Qatar, where a fan could realistically attend two or even
00:38three matches in a single day.
00:40The 48 teams will be split into 12 groups of four.
00:44The top two from each group, plus the eight best third-place teams, will move into a new 32-team
00:50knockout phase.
00:51From there, the tournament runs through the round of 32, the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and then the final.
01:00By the time we get to the decider at MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey on July the 19th,
01:05the champions will have played eight matches.
01:08That's one more than the seven required by Argentina when they won Qatar 2022.
Comments