The new regime at FIFA wasted little time in making their mark upon the 2026 World Cup, changing the number of qualifying teams from 32 to 48, allowing 16 teams into groups of three teams. While the various African and Asian nations are expected to be adding the most teams from all regions, the real winner is FIFA, who are expected to garner an additional $1 billion from broadcasting and sponsorship deals. FIFA’s long-standing goal of bringing more diversity into the international competition would be realized as well. The final decision as to which regional football federations will be decided in May, 2017.
Rules changes are not sacrosanct, either. Former Netherlands star Marco Van Basten has taken over the role of FIFA’s chief officer for technical development, and has proposed a novel idea to replace the spot penalty kicks for games that end in a draw after the full 90 minutes has expired. This new rule would apply to the group stage of the tournament, since the three teams might well be level on points at the end of group play and the shootout would determine which teams advance beyond group play.
The shootout is meant to provide the fan with a bit more excitement than the static penalty kick and require a bit more skill from the player. The “best of five” concept would be retained, with the goalkeeper confined to his boxed area. The penalty take would have the ball spotted 25 meters from goal and have eight seconds to shoot the ball. A traditional penalty kick is over in a second, while the shootout requires the skills of dribbling and judging the keepers’ reaction, while retaining a targeted shot. Again, all of this must occur within the eight-second window.
While this concept is new to most of the world, it has been used in the United States. The North American Soccer League of the 1970s and 1980s used this format for deciding a winner in their matches, and Major League Soccer also used the same tie-breaker during its inaugural period. Not surprisingly, should FIFA decide to test the mechanics of the shootout, it is expected it to be re-introduced in the United States while possibly expanding into Canada and Mexico.
While other rules changes are being looked at, most are proposals that more than likely will never be enacted. But the fact that the new leadership at FIFA is considering re-visiting ways to make the game more exciting for the players and fans can only be viewed as a positive step from an organization that has been viewed as oligarchic and out-of-touch for too many years .
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