The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first of its kind, featuring a record 48 teams. It’s a major increase from the usual 32 teams that football fans have grown accustomed to since the 1998 World Cup. Naturally, the number of berths each confederation is allocated will be increased following this change. Some of the new berth allocations are good, but others are controversial, even problematic. A closer inspection of the problems with FIFA’s berth allocation for the 2026 World Cup is warranted.
The Issues With FIFA’s Berth Allocation for the 2026 World Cup
Six CONMEBOL and CONCACAF Berths Respectively
It goes without saying that South America is far more successful than North America when it comes to football, so seeing them be awarded the same amount of berths for the World Cup is unacceptable. One argument is that CONCACAF’s member association count of 41 compared to CONMEBOL’s ten justifies this, but do keep in mind the vast majority of those additional members consist of small island states like Saint Lucia and the Cayman Islands.
Bolivia, the worst CONMEBOL nation according to FIFA World Rankings, are ranked higher than all but seven CONCACAF members. The discrepancy between the two confederations is clear. It would be fairer if CONMEBOL were given one of CONCACAF’s slots, making their regional berths seven and five respectively.
Three Additional UEFA Berths Makes Sense
UEFA are allocated 13 slots for the 32-team World Cups, 40.6% of total slots. For the 2026 World Cup, UEFA will be allocated 16 slots, 33.3% of total slots. This slight percentage decrease is not too alarming, especially when you consider the fact that both CAF’s and AFC’s such percentage will be a mere 17% for the 2026 World Cup. Even if you consider the fact that UEFA members have been exponentially more successful than CAF and AFC members at World Cups, 33.3% is reasonably higher than 17%. It is a justifiable discrepancy between the confederations.
The 48-team World Cup is as praised as it is criticized and even if FIFA are unlikely to make any changes ahead of the 2026 World Cup, it is an issue that needs to be brought up.
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