In 1994, the final World Cup before it expanded to 32 teams was hosted by the United States. Now in 2026, the United States will host the first post-32-team World Cup. The new format expands from 8 groups of 4 to 12 groups of 4, increasing the total number of teams from 32 to 48. Similar to the 32-team format, the top two teams will advance to the single-elimination bracket, but this time the 8 best 3rd-place teams will join them. This expansion definitely benefits smaller countries like Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan; however, time will tell how the decrease in parity will affect the level of play. In my opinion, this parity difference will become incredibly visible in the group stage, as seen by my predictions below.
Group A:
- Mexico: 7 pts +5 GD
- Czechia: 5 pts +2 GD
- South Korea: 4 pts -1 GD
- South Africa: 0 pts -6 GD
Group B:
- Switzerland: 7 pts +4 GD
- Canada: 7 pts +2 GD
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: 3 pts -2 GD
- Qatar: 0 pts -4 GD
Group C:
- Brazil: 9 pts +8 GD
- Morocco: 6 pts +3 GD
- Scotland: 3 pts -4 GD
- Haiti: 0 pts -7 GD
Group D:
- Türkyie: 7 pts +3 GD 6 GF
- United States: 7 pts +3 GD 5 GF
- Australia: 1 pts -3 GD 3 GF
- Paraguay: 1 pts -3 GD 2 GF
Group E:
- Germany: 9 pts +10 GD
- Ivory Coast: 4 pts +1 GD
- Ecuador: 4 pts -1 GD
- Curaçao: 0 pts -10 GD
Group F:
- Japan: 9 pts +5 GD
- Netherlands: 4 pts 0 GD
- Sweden: 4 pts -2 GD
- Tunisia: 0 pts -3 GD
Group H:
- Spain: 9 pts +10 GD
- Uruguay: 6 pts +4 GD
- Saudi Arabia: 1 pts -6 GD
- Cape Verde: 1 pts -8 GD
Group I:
- France: 9 pts +6 GD
- Norway: 4 pts +2 GD
- Senegal: 2 pts -4 GD
- Iraq: 1 pts -4 GD
Group J:
- Argentina: 9 pts +5 GD
- Austria: 4 pts +2 GD
- Algeria: 4 pts -2 GD
- Jordan: 0 pts -5 GD
Group K:
- Portugal: 7 pts +6 GD
- Colombia: 7 pts +4 GD
- DR Congo: 3 pts -7 GD
- Uzbekistan: 0 pts -3 GD
Group L:
- England: 9 pts +9 GD
- Croatia: 6 pts +3 GD
- Panama: 3 pts -5 GD
- Ghana: 0 pts -7 GD
Eight Best 3rd Place:
- South Korea (Group A)
- Ecuador (Group E)
- Sweden (Group F)
- Egypt (Group G)
- Algeria (Group J)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (Group B)
- Scotland (Group C)
- Panama (Group L)
I have the Knockout Stage proceeding as follows
Round of 32:
Germany (1st in Group E) vs Scotland (3rd in Group C). Winner: Germany
France (1st in Group I) vs Sweden (3rd in Group F). Winner: France
Czechia (2nd in Group A) vs Canada (2nd in Group B). Winner: Czechia
Japan (1st in Group F) vs Morocco (2nd in Group C). Winner Morocco
Colombia (2nd in Group K) vs Croatia (2nd in Group L). Winner: Colombia
Spain (1st in Group H) vs Austria (2nd in Group J). Winner: Spain
Türkyie (1st in Group D) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (3rd in Group B). Winner: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Belgium (1st in Group G) vs South Korea (3rd in Group A). Winner: Belgium
Brazil (1st in Group C) vs Netherlands (2nd in Group F). Winner: Netherlands
Ivory Coast (2nd in Group E) vs Norway (2nd in Group I). Winner: Norway
Mexico (1st in Group A) vs Ecuador (3rd in Group E). Winner: Ecuador
England (1st in Group L) vs Algeria (3rd in Group J). Winner: England
Argentina (1st in Group J) vs Uruguay (2nd in Group H). Winner: Argentina
United States (2nd in Group D) vs Iran (2nd in Group G). Winner: United States
Switzerland (1st in Group B) vs Egypt (3rd in Group G). Winner: Switzerland
Portugal (1st in Group K) vs Panama (3rd in Group L). Winner: Portugal
Round of 16:
Germany vs France. Winner: France
Czechia vs Morocco. Winner: Morocco
Colombia vs Spain. Winner: Spain
Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Belgium. Winner: Belgium
Netherlands vs Norway. Winner: Netherlands
Ecuador vs England. Winner: England
Argentina vs United States. Winner: Argentina
Switzerland vs Portugal. Winner: Portugal
Quarterfinals:
France vs Morocco. Winner: France
Spain vs Belgium. Winner: Spain
Netherlands vs England. Winner: England
Argentina vs Portugal. Winner: Argentina
Semifinals:
France vs Spain. Winner: Spain
England vs Argentina. Winner: England
3rd Place:
France vs Argentina. Winner: Argentina
The Final:
Spain vs England. Winner: Spain
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