FIFA studies including a penalty shootout in the group stage ties of the 2026 World Cup

The 2026 World Cup, which will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will have a total of 48 participants, after FIFA’s decision to increase the number of 32, which was usual in recent editions. However, it would not be the only change that would be applied: The Athletic revealed that the entity is studying the possibility of establishing a penalty shootout for tied matches in the group stage.

According to the aforementioned source, the highest governing body for soccer in the world wants a winner to be declared in the matches, to facilitate the definition of the qualifiers, although the scoring system will not be the usual one.

In this innovative proposal, the matches that end evenly will deliver a point for each selected, as normally happens; however, penalty shots will allow a squad to gain an additional unit, which will undoubtedly be beneficial on the leaderboard.

The possible new regulation is still a matter of debate within FIFA, since the impact it may have within the competition will also have to be studied. For now, fans of this sport have expressed their rejection on social networks of this model in matches.

Let’s remember that in recent years, football has been changing, but usually in relation to the use of technology. In that sense, VAR has become a common instrument today; while the semi-automatic offside was implemented for the World Cup in Qatar, which reduces the deadlines to define an advanced position.

And in direct relation to the game, the 2022 World Cup has served to adapt compensatory time: the judges now add a long period to recover the real minutes that are lost due to goals, substitutions, injuries, etc. Pierluigi Collina, FIFA arbitration president, indicated that they seek to improve the show.