FIFA adopts tennis-style seeding for 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

FIFA has unveiled a striking change to the way the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup will be organised: beginning from the Round of 32, group winners will be seeded in a “tennis-style” draw, significantly reshaping the path to the final.

Under the revamped system, once the 12 groups conclude, the teams that finish top of their respective groups will not be treated equally in the bracket. Instead, they will be assigned to different “paths” in the knockout phase based on their FIFA rankings, a method designed to prevent the strongest teams from meeting too early.

In practice, this means the highest-ranked group winners will be separated so that they can only meet in the later rounds, much like seeded players in a Grand Slam tennis tournament. According to media reports, if all goes to form, the top four teams in the FIFA rankings, currently projected to be Spain, Argentina, France and England, would be placed in distinct quarters of the bracket.

As a result, some potentially explosive matchups may be delayed until the semi-finals or even the final.

For instance, England and France could avoid each other until the very last game, provided both win their groups.

This innovation comes as part of broader modifications for the 2026 tournament, which will feature 48 teams drawn into 12 groups of four.

The group-stage draw itself remains conventional: teams are split into four pots of 12, based on FIFA rankings, with one team drawn per pot into each group.

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