The expansion to 48 teams had already been approved on January 10, 2017, when it was initially decided that the tournament would include 16 groups of 3 teams, and 80 matches in total, with the top two teams of each group progressing to a round of 32.Under this later-superseded format, the maximum number of matches per team would have remained at seven, but each team would have played one fewer group match than before. The tournament would still have been completed within 32 days. This format was initially chosen over three other proposals, ranging from 40 to 48 teams, from 76 to 88 matches, and from one to four minimum matches per team.
Critics of this format argued that the use of three-team groups with two teams progressing significantly increased the risk of collusion between teams. This prompted FIFA to suggest that penalty may be used to prevent draws in the group stage, although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival. To address these concerns, FIFA continued considering alternative formats—a process that ended with the 2023 announcement that the format would be 12 groups of 4 teams.
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Critics of this format argued that the use of three-team groups with two teams progressing significantly increased the risk of collusion between teams. This prompted FIFA to suggest that penalty may be used to prevent draws in the group stage, although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival. To address these concerns, FIFA continued considering alternative formats—a process that ended with the 2023 announcement that the format would be 12 groups of 4 teams.
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