The Peruvian team failed to qualify for Qatar 2022. Now they have to focus on the next South American qualifiers for the World Cup in Mexico, USA and Canada 2026. As announced by FIFA, 48 teams will participate in this World Cup South America will have 6.5 slots.
Because the number of participants on our continent will increase FIFA and the Conmebol They are looking for a new format that makes the qualification attractive. Therefore, the highest governing body in world football already had a proposal.
According to Movistar Deportes, the national teams will no longer face each other for the next qualifiers: they will be divided into two groups and then go to a home run. What is this new modality about? Here we tell you.
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New format for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup
First stage: group stage
- There will be two groups (A and B) with five teams each.
- Group A country meets Group B country in home and away matches.
- There will be 10 games that each team will play in this first phase.
- The first two places in each group will qualify for the 2026 World Championship; that is, there will be four classified countries.
- The last one in each group is automatically eliminated.
Second leg: home run
- The four ranked play each other in the Final Four (round trip), which serves to give them competition.
- The third and fourth of each group form a home run. The third from A meets the fourth from B and vice versa (round trip).
- The winners of both brackets go directly to the world championship. That is, they would add six classified.
- The two losers of both keys face off in home and away matches to determine who takes the playoff spot.
See the possible new format explanation
When would this new format begin towards the 2026 World Cup?
If this new South American qualification format is approved, this competition would start in September 2023. That way he would no longer start in March, as some South American media had reported.
What changes will the format of the 2026 World Cup have?
The FIFA Congress held in May 2021 determined that the 2026 World Cup will bring together 48 teams. The venue for this competition is shared by Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The odds for each confederation would be distributed as follows: UEFA (16), Africa (9.5), Asia (8.5), Conmebol (6.5), Concacaf (6.5) and Oceania (1).