The FIFA World Cup is set to have 104 matches starting from the tournament in North America in 2026.
That’s a huge increase from the 64 we saw in Qatar 2022, and will mean a long-drawn-out group stage where even third-placed teams will have the chance to progress from their groups.
According to Sky, this will bring in new revenue for FIFA, whilst also helping host nations USA, Canada and Mexico with format issues.
There had already been plans to increase the number of teams involved at World Cups, but it seems this has been taken a step further after latest talks with footballing governing bodies.
It remains to be seen how this will impact the quality of the tournament, but one imagines it might mean a few too many games between countries that you wouldn’t normally expect to be good enough to compete at this level.
There is also the issue of having so many more games in the footballing calendar when players are already over-stretched with a busy enough schedule as it is.