It’s worth remembering that FIFA’s original idea was to have 16 groups of three teams, with the top two advancing to a 32-team tie, a format that would have involved 80 games, compared to the 64-match format that has been used since 1998. With that in mind, FIFA now wants a tournament with 12 groups of four teams, with the eight best third-place finishers joining the top two for a total of 32 teams to advance.
