The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) Council have unanimously voted to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from 2026. The confirmation was made on FIFA media twitter handle on Tuesday.

“The FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team #WorldCup as of 2026: 16 groups of 3 teams,” The governing body announced on it’s official Twitter page.

The decision to increase the number of qualified teams for the 2026 World Cup was reached at the Council meeting held in Zurich. There will be 16 groups which will be made up of three teams each.

 Prior to this new development, 32 teams with four teams in each groups feature at the World Cup.