The World Cup finals will be expanded to 48 teams from the 2026 edition, football governing body FIFA confirmed at a council meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.

    The proposal was backed "unanimously" according to FIFA and represents a 50 per cent increase from the present number of 32 teams.It was the favoured plan of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who pledged to increase the size of the tournament during his election campaign. 

    Speaking in a post-meeting news conference, Infantino said that the move was to "shape the World Cup of the 21st century." Participating countries will be divided into 16 groups of three at the finals, likely creating a tournament with 80 matches - up from the current 64.

Source: QNA