WC 2026 Summary

With 48 teams and talk of going to 64 teams, the WC could end up so broad in its coverage. What are some of the effects expanding the attendees has? The 48 team format will be the main focus here. 

Minows: There was usually a country that had a poor WC but in this one, six. They were all eliminated in the group stage. 

The three games they played resulted in a combined total of 10 goals, but they conceded 62. Is it worth quite a few one sided games to have more participants? 

There could be arguments both ways but going to 64 nations would surely add to the number of blow out scorelines. Not ideal, but I can see both sides. 

Third placed qualifiers: There were eight of them in 2026. In other words, coming third gave a nation 67% chance of progress. One of the eight qualified to the round of 16, but fell there. 

A 48 format creates this situation, whereas a 32 or 64 format can have the top two from each group progressing. I'm not a fan of two in every three contestants progressing. 

Matches played to win: With the move from 32 to 48 countries, that went up from seven to eight. Moving up to 64 teams won't increase that any further. 

Top sides: I counted these as nations that exceeded eleven goals scored. Two went out in the round of 32 and one the round of 16. Germany and USA averaged 2.75 goals per game, conceding 1.25. 

Belgium scored 2.33 per game and conceded 1.2. Norway threw a game against France and ended up with 2.17 and 1.83. 

England managed 2.5 and 1.5. France 2.5 and 1.25. Argentina was 2.38 and 1.0. Spain was 1.75 and 0.13

This doesn't cover minutes played through extra time. Still, there is something to learn. 

Most teams in these later rounds scored at a reasonably consistent rate (the third placed match affected England and France figures). What is obvious is that the finalists had the best defences, 1.0 and a ridiculous 0.125 for Spain. Argentina was helped in the final with Spain denied a legitimate goal which would have lifted Argentina's goals conceded to 1.125 but still the second lowest. 

Two of my favourites were France and England as they had a lot of strike power but both failed with defences that were too leaky. Spain won with a super defensive effort right across the tournament. 

Please note: The lower chart has group match totals and finals totals separated. The red is the two combined. 

WC Regions: Historical Data / 2026 Analysis

I scored countries that have been to the WC since 1954. That chart can be seen by clicking here. Below show how points have been allocated. 'Totals' are the points for each tournament. Then matches and average points per match, which has remained reasonably similar.

What has dropped is the percentage for the winner, from 22% to 8%. Points for teams not making the quarter finals are the reason. As their number has swelled, so too the percentage, fom 17% to 61%. 

Moving on to how regions have gone. The number of nations went up by 45.5% in 2026. The number of  nations participating regionally, Europe went up numerically 23%, Americas 50%, East/Pacific 67% and Africa 100%. 

As for points won, East/Pacific went up just 12.5%, Europe up 68%, Americas 74% and Africa 153%.

The gap between the extra nations and points gained by region were East/Pacific a terrible -54%, Americas a modest +24%, Europe a sound +45% and Africa a buoyant +53%.

Europe is the most successful region but is getting less allocations. Its percentage points are down to 44% of the total. Yet the above shows that the success is the second highest if comparing points won with the allocations by percentage. Europe was not given sufficient spots considering the quality of football there. 

America's very generous 12 nation allocation for 2026 did achieved more points but was third on the metric of improvement per team. Surely they don't need more nations. 

Africa had its number of participants doubled and grew the most, so allocating more spots was a successful move. More spots will surely follow.

East/Pacific was a disaster. 6 to 10 teams didn't work on the field. However, with the population that region covers, I'm sure FIFA is eyeing the revenue potential and will want more allocations from here. 

If you want clarification of what I wrote, please leave a comment and I will answer. 

WC Countries Ranked: 1954-2026

For a chart on how points are awarded and an analysis by regions, simply click here.