Asia will have eight slots at the 48-team World Cup from 2026 onwards, and the five other confederations of the FIFA will also see increases, the FIFA council decided on Tuesday.
FIFA said the council approved a proposal from a few weeks ago after an earlier decision to raise the number of participating teams from 32 to 48.
FIFA also confirmed that the final two berths will be determined in a six-team intercontinental mini tournament in late 2025 in the World Cup host nation.
A conference of the FIFA council /FIFA.com
Europe leads the way with 16 slots, while Africa had the biggest gain, from five to nine slots. North, Central America and the Caribbean will have six just as South America, and Oceania one.
Slot allocation:
Confederation Slots until 2022 Slots from 2026
Africa 5 9
Asia 4.5 8
Europe 13 16
North- Central America 3.5 6
Oceania 0.5 1
South America 4.5 6
The approved slot allocation includes an intercontinental play-off tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup berths.
The host country would also automatically qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and its slot would be taken from the quota of its confederation. In the event of co-hosting, the number of host countries to qualify automatically would be decided by the FIFA Council.
(Source: Xinhua)
