Montagliani said the idea to change the format was crystallized after the Qatar World Cup, which featured several nail-biting finishes in the group stage. Final games were played simultaneously to ensure no single team could benefit from knowing the outcome of a rival’s game.
Adding extra games will also add extra days. Such a duration is likely to anger players’ unions and clubs concerned about the heavy workload imposed on the game’s stars. Montagliani said the tournament would be extended by up to seven days to accommodate the extra games.
The North American World Cup is the first version of the men’s tournament to have been awarded since Infantino became FIFA president in 2016. While the expansion has been celebrated by many of the governing body’s smaller member nations because of the expanded opportunities to qualify it will provide and the billions of dollars in added revenue it will produce, many fans and commentators expressed concerns the move would diminish the quality of the event.
Infantino has predicted the 2026 World Cup will generate a record-breaking payday; FIFA has budgeted for revenues of $11 billion in the four-year cycle to 2026, almost $4 billion more than it earned during the coinciding period for the Qatar World Cup.
One way of mitigating the impact of a longer tournament would be to reduce the preparation window for it. In previous years, it had been three weeks for qualified teams. (That window was shortened to a single week before the event in Qatar, the first to be played in November and December, placing it in the heart of the season for many domestic leagues.)
Montagliani said the call-up window would almost certainly be reduced to ensure the tournament stays within the window mapped out before Tuesday’s change, which could mean as many as six games played per day during the group stage.
Montagliani had earlier questioned whether the impact on player health would be as severe as players’ unions have warned.