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ItsCalledDayTwa t1_ixpgav4 wrote

Reply to comment by hcbaron in TIL the 2026 World Cup will be the first Cup to host 48 teams instead of the usual 32. by hcbaron

One fewer group match? So the groups in the stage of 32 no longer all play each other? That seems... Deeply imbalanced.

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Fred_Smythe t1_ixphtdq wrote

Sixteen groups of three, thus, two group matches. Which means the first round is basically gonna flush out all of the 0-2 teams but it ALSO means drawing is gonna be the kiss of death so teams are gonna be busting their ass to score in the final minutes of a level match.

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screwswithshrews t1_ixpz67k wrote

So Argentina and Germany would basically be done now under this format?

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JoePizza22 t1_ixq19p7 wrote

No not at all, 2 teams from 3 would go through to the next round. 1 win almost guarantees progression so they would have a must win 2nd game.

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CHRLZ_IIIM t1_ixppk1v wrote

I really like that aspect of it

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InGenAche t1_ixqeobi wrote

It's going to make the early rounds boring as fuck.

Any team 1 or 2 up against a poorer team by half time are just going to coast.

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sourhair t1_ixpw69x wrote

It might be just as likely the third game becomes meaningless if both teams have already beaten the 3rd placed team.

I also foresee issue of teams being on equal points and GD after just 3 rounds.. Who really trusts FIFA to fairly pick which 2 teams go through

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DitsyGritzy t1_ixq26yu wrote

I’m assuming that they force all tied games to go to shootouts. And that they leverage tie breaking procedures (goals allowed, goals scored, # red/yellow cards issued, etc…). And should all else fail…. Coin flip

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Willsmithsdignity t1_ixq0j2m wrote

If there's 16 playoff spots still that 3rd game would be for everything

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TheSpacePopeIX t1_ixqak5u wrote

Does the math on this work out? A draw guarantees that one other team in your group has only 1 point as well.

Plus selling out to try to score but getting scored on instead is a four point swing in your opponents favor,

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muaddib99 t1_ixqbrzj wrote

depends on the order of the games i guess. if you've both played and lost to the other team, but you lost by 2 and they by 1, you're going to be balls to the wall trying to win late because otherwise you're out on goal differential

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TheSpacePopeIX t1_ixqdtlo wrote

I guess, but doesn’t that more or less happen in the current group format?

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TheSpacePopeIX t1_ixqa19v wrote

I mis-understood this in the same way, I thought that they were saying we would see a three-team group, knockout one third of teams, and then proceed as normal. Instead, after the worst team in each group is eliminated, we’ll have a big knockout bracket of 32 teams. World Cup going March Madness on us.

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ItsCalledDayTwa t1_ixqbcu4 wrote

Yeah I thought the round of 32 was the group stage with one fewer match. I think champions league used to do two group stages.

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