The decision was taken at the 73rd FIFA Council in Kigali, Rwanda.

The 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada will also be the first time the quadrennial event will feature 48 teams.

"Based on a thorough review that considered sporting integrity, player welfare, team travel, commercial and sporting attractiveness, as well as team and fan experience, the FIFA Council unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the FIFA World Cup 2026 competition format from 16 groups of three to 12 groups of four with the top two and eight best third-placed teams progressing to a round of 32," a FIFA statement read.

"The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams."

Last year's World Cup in Qatar featured 64 games, with Argentina lifting the trophy after defeating France in the final on penalties.

Since 1998, all editions of the FIFA World Cup had 32 teams with eight groups of four.

Initially, the plan was to hold 80 matches for the 2026 World Cup before FIFA decided to increase it to 104 during the Council on Tuesday.

However, there will be four teams in each group in the Americas after plans to have three-team groups were rejected.

This means that the 2026 edition will have a round of 32 instead of the traditional round of 16, with the eight best third-placed teams making it to the knockout round.

FIFA has also announced that the 2026 World Cup final will be played on July 19 of that year.

According to the new format, the governing body said it is "mandatory" for clubs to release players for the tournament "on 25 May 2026, following the last official club match on 24 May 2026" and that "exemptions may apply to the final matches of confederation club competitions until 30 May 2026 subject to FIFA approval".

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first edition to be held in three countries.

Mexico hosted the tournament in 1986 while the United States staged the World Cup in 1994. 

Both the editions had 24 teams.