Leonardo Bonucci’s frustration was clear. A few months after beating England 2021 in the European Championship in London, Italy fell to North Macedonia in the play-offs of the European World Cup qualifiers in Palermo. “There are teams in other confederations that have lost four or five games”said Bonucci. “And we’re eliminated after a goal in the 92nd minute in our only defeat. This system is crazy.”
Bonucci, at least statistically, was not exaggerating. Uruguay and Ecuador even finished with six defeats in South America – albeit in a completely different way. The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada will give many teams more security in qualifying. Because with 48 teams that are allowed to play, failure is made more and more difficult for the big ones.
16 Europeans, more than half from South America
The number of participants increases in each confederation. From 2026, 16 instead of 13 teams will play in Europe. Be it Italy in 2022 and 2018, the Netherlands in 2002, England and France in 1994 – such big surprises are bound to become rarer.
The new situation in South America is even more drastic. The CONMEBOL confederation has ten members, in future South America will be allowed to send six of them to the World Cup, plus one playoff participant. The task for CONMEBOL: develop a suspense-packed mode that allows the search for three teams to be eliminated.
In the 2026 Confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean there are six teams plus two playoff participants. The USA, Canada and Mexico are still hoping for a starting right as hosts. The chances for the island states are increasing and that was also a reproach to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.