FIFA Did Not Officially Announce the World Cup Will Be Held Every Two Years
The Claim
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) officially agrees to hold the World Cup every two years starting in 2026, increasing the number of participants to 48 teams, and awarding an amount of 16 million euros to each of its member federations.
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Emerging story
Facebook accounts have recently shared a claim that the FIFA has officially agreed to hold the World Cup on a biennial basis starting in 2026. Those sharing the news claimed that the FIFA aims to increase the number of national teams to 46, distributed across 16 member federations, each consisting of three teams. The claim also adds that the FIFA will offer 16 million euros to each federation.
Description: The screenshot captures the purported claim that was shared on Facebook.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s team has investigated the circulated claim and found that it was misleading. FIFA has not yet announced that it will hold the World Cup every two years. Misbar’s team did not find any news on FIFA’s website or any other credible media outlet to confirm the claim.
FIFA did, however, hold a virtual summit with 211 international football federations on Dec. 20 of this year. The summit aimed to discuss changes to the international match calendar beyond 2024. FIFA also promised to provide an additional 19 millions dollars, paid over four years in case the plan to stage the World Cup every two years was successful.
It is worth noting here that Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, proposed the idea to hold a major international tournament every year, alternating between the World Cup and continental tournaments, such as the European Cup and Copa América. However, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and South America’s football confederation (CONMEBOL) opposed the proposition.
Media reports indicated in late October that FIFA was close to making a fateful decision to hold the World Cup every two years instead of the current four-year cycle, which has been followed since the launch of the largest tournament in world football in 1930. This was supported by the The Asian Confederation and the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), which announced that it was open to the idea only if it gives a more balanced structure for the global game.
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
