48 teams, 104 matches, one very big experiment
The first 48-team World Cup was bigger than any before it — and, from record crowds to first-time nations, it mostly made the case for itself.
The math alone was daunting: 48 teams, 104 matches, three host nations, a new Round of 32 bolted on before the knockouts most fans knew. The fear was dilution. What arrived, more often than not, was expansion done right.
The crowds answered first. Spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the tournament broke the all-time World Cup attendance record set in 1994, playing to packed stadiums almost everywhere. Whatever the format debate, the appetite was never in question.
New flags, new stories
The expansion’s best argument was the map. Curaçao — a Caribbean island of around 156,000 people — became the smallest nation ever to play a men’s World Cup, and took a point off Ecuador to prove it belonged. Cape Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan all made their debuts; Cape Verde reached the knockouts.
- First World Cup with 48 teams and 104 matches
- First hosted by three nations at once
- A new all-time attendance record, breaking 1994’s mark
- The most goals in World Cup history
- Four debutants; the smallest nation ever to appear
The other side
It was not flawless. Some group-stage mismatches were brutal — Germany’s 7-1 over Curaçao among them — and a 104-match calendar asked a great deal of players and travelling fans across a continent-sized tournament. But the knockouts were relentless, the upsets frequent, and the final worthy. The 48-team World Cup will be back in 2030. On the evidence of 2026, it has earned the encore.