The group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be organized on a regional basis to limit travel, FIFA President Gianni Infantino revealed at a ceremony that took place during the presentation of the tournament’s logo. In Los Angeles.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Gianni Infantino – FIFA President (@gianni_infantino)
The idea of the organization is to limit travel as much as possible in a World Cup that will be jointly organized by three countries for the first time and will see 48 teams participate, 16 more than the usual 32 that were in place between 1998 and 2022. ” The challenge will be logistics,” the FIFA president admitted.
Infantino underlined “distances, time zones, climate differences, altitude in Mexico and sea level in other regions,” as arguments that contextualize the need to create a good environment and the best conditions for the teams.
“That means we don’t have to travel a lot, especially in the beginning. We are going to create groups in which the teams will be stationed according to the draw,” explained the director, citing the good example of Qatar, where each player rested an hour after playing a game.
Former US international Alexis Lalas also spoke about travel, noting that these are six-hour flights and changes in time zones, and that the idea of hosting the groups by region therefore “makes perfect sense”.
As for the image of the 2026 World Cup, for the first time in the history of the competition, the image only shows the trophy and the year it was held. The motto of the tournament is “We Are 26” (“We are 26”, in the Portuguese translation), which, according to Infantino, symbolizes the union between three countries that in practice represent a continent: North America.
“It’s the moment when three countries and an entire continent collectively say, ‘We stand together to welcome the world and deliver the biggest, best and most inclusive FIFA World Cup ever,’ Infantino said at the ceremony.
Source: DN
