As the 2022 World Cup in Qatar comes to an end, the eyes of soccer fans around the world are focused on the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in 3 years and 6 months.

The 2026 World Cup became the first event in World Cup history to be co-hosted by three countries as Canada, the United States and Mexico in North and Central America decided to hold it together.

In addition, the number of participating countries will increase from 32 to 48 according to FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s inauguration promise in 2015.

The World Cup was held with a system of 16 countries until the 1978 Argentina competition, but increased to 24 countries in the 1982 스포츠토토 Spain competition. It was then expanded to 32 countries at the 1998 World Cup in France and maintained for 24 years, and now we are in the era of 48 countries.

As the participation quota has increased by 1.5 times compared to the previous one, the next World Cup is expected to establish itself as a new competition for countries that have not yet been able to participate in the biggest festival in the global village.

According to FIFA’s distribution plan for the 2026 World Cup, the continents that benefit the most are Asia and Africa, where the quota will nearly double from the existing 4.5 and 5 to 8.33 and 9.33, respectively.

The North Central America and Caribbean Football Federation quotas also increase by more than 90% from 3.5 to 6.67, but the competition is unlikely to be easier than in Asia or Africa, except for the 3 quotas that go to the host countries Canada, the United States and Mexico.

In addition, Oceania, which had not been assigned any previously, received a total of 1.33 quotas, including the first time that a team could go straight to the World Cup finals.

On the other hand, the number of places to participate in Europe and South America, which have divided the World Cup championships so far, is smaller than that of other continents, from 13 and 4.5 to 16 and 6.33, respectively.

As a result, in the 2026 World Cup, countries that have slipped from the threshold of the World Cup finals several times, such as Uzbekistan, Syria, and Oman, as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, are more likely to qualify for the World Cup finals.

In the case of Vietnam, it reached the quarterfinals at the 2019 Asian Cup and also reached the final Asian qualifier for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where 12 countries including Qatar fought, so it is worth knocking on the main line if you maintain your power.

In addition, countries that have only participated in the World Cup once so far, such as China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, will be able to try again.

Foreign media are also picking up African countries such as Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Guinea as candidates to participate in the World Cup for the first time.

Depending on the results of the group draw, Brazil could face Uzbekistan or Vietnam in the group stage of the final round.

The advantage that the fever of the World Cup can reach countries that have been neglected so far is certain, but conversely, there are also comments that the level of the tournament will drop significantly, centering on the group stage, and the expansion of the quota for 48 countries is causing controversy.

In the case of Asia, there is a view that interest in Asian qualifiers will be halved as the existing 5 countries, Korea, Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Australia, are likely to advance to the World Cup finals unless there is a major change.

The 2026 World Cup is expected to be recorded as the largest World Cup in history.

This is because the fans as well as the players have to travel by plane as they are held together in Canada, which ranks second in terms of national area, the United States, which ranks third, and Mexico, which ranks 13th.

In the United States, 10 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Miami, and Kansas City, were selected as the host cities. In Canada, Vancouver and Toronto were selected, and in Mexico, Mexico City and Monterrey and Guadalajara were selected as three host cities.

In the case of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the competition was held only in western Russia, within 2-3 hours of flight from Moscow.

However, the World Cup in North and Central America is the opposite of the World Cup in Qatar, where 8 stadiums were concentrated in an area the size of Gyeonggi-do, as stadiums are scattered throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico, and the possibility of players and fans traveling for a long time for each game is increasing. done.