Good News! Africa Gets 9 Of 48 Proposed Slots For 2026 FIFA W/Cup

World Football governing body, FIFA, has announced proposed slot allocation of places for the 48-team World Cup, which begins in 2026.

The resolve which was reached on Thursday followed a meeting of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the presidents of the six confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA).

The plan which is subject to approval at FIFA’s May Congress in Bahrain for a final decision, proposes an automatic place for Oceania, 16 places for Europe – up from 13 – and a six-nation play-off could be used to determine the last two spots.

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Asia, currently guaranteed between four and five World Cup entries, will get eight slots, and Africa nine places, marking an increase of four.

The confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) will have six places, above its current level of between three and four.

South America (CONMEBOL), which now has between four and five slots, will get six, according to the recommendations from FIFA’s ruling council.

The two remaining places would be decided by a six-team playoff tournament which would take place in the World Cup host nation, before the finals, FIFA said.

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That tournament would include one team from each confederation, except UEFA, and an extra one from the continent of the host country.

“The recommendation will now be submitted for the ratification of the FIFA council, whose next meeting is scheduled for 9 May in Manama, Bahrain, two days prior to the 67th FIFA congress,” FIFA stated.

FIFA decided in January to increase the tournament from 32 teams to 48.

The competition, which has had an unchanged format since 1998, is set to feature 16 groups of three teams under the revamp.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement that he was “satisfied” with the proposal.

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“We feel that UEFA will be fairly represented with a total of 16 national associations competing in the new format of the World Cup,” he said.

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