World football's governing body FIFA have made the decision to expand the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico to include an additional 16 teams with the final taking place on July 19.
The number of teams in the tournament has been 32 since 1998, and the landmark change will mean twelve groups of four teams will contest the group stages, with each team playing the other three in the group.
And in good news for the Socceroos, almost double the qualification slots have been allocated to the Asian region, the number of teams increasing from 4.5 to 8.5 (with one place decided through a playoff against another region).
In a showing of recognition for football's progression around the world, Asia and Africa have been given more of the extra available places than Europe - no doubt due to the stellar 2022 World Cup performances of Morocco, Japan and the Socceroos.
These changes mean the Asian Football Confederation's qualifying process now looks like this - eighteen teams, split into three groups of six who will contest the third round with the top two from each group sealing their place at the FIFA World Cup.
The teams who finish third and fourth will then go into two groups of three and whoever wins that group will be the next to qualify. Those teams that finish second will face each other for the chance to qualify in the intercontinental play-off for the final chance to qualify for the World Cup, the path the Socceroos took to the tournament for the 2006, 2018 and 2022 editions.
Further changes to the 2026 World Cup will include the eight best third-placed teams in the group stages progressing to the knockout round of 32 along with all the top two sides.
"Based on a thorough review that considered sporting integrity, player welfare, team travel, commercial and sporting attractiveness, as well as team and fan experience, the FIFA Council unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the FIFA World Cup 2026 competition format," FIFA said in a statement released on Wednesday (AEDT).
“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams."
