Reforming FIFA's confederations

[dr. bellows]

For a 64 team WC finals, I'd propose 16 groups of 4 with each group winner going into R16 knockout. Second place in each group goes into Nations Cup R16, a second tier international competition with parallels to Europa League. No team plays more than 7 matches in the finals in either WC or NC.

I would prefer 2 cup comps of 32 teams each. For one thing, it would resolve the problem of what to do about CONMEBOL qualifying if you have 64 teams. And it gives extra weight to qualifying matches in other confederations. But it looks like FIFA are set on a 64 team WC finals.

 

[NicCarBel]

For a 64 team WC finals, I'd propose 16 groups of 4 with each group winner going into R16 knockout. Second place in each group goes into Nations Cup R16, a second tier international competition with parallels to Europa League. No team plays more than 7 matches in the finals in either WC or NC.

Sounds too Rugby/Commonwealth Games to me

 

[dr. bellows]

Sounds too Rugby/Commonwealth Games to me

OK

 

[NicCarBel]

OK so I've done a draw for these 4 confederations for the 2026 World Cup using the above pots, and here's the groups.
Note - For the Americas, Pacific, and West Asia, I did end up settling on playoffs (which will be seeded, not a random draw) in the opening round to make even groups

AMERICAS
Playoff round

1. Grenada v Anguilla (6-3)
2. Belize v British Virgin Islands (7-2)
3. St Vincent & the Grenadines v US Virgin Islands (3-4)
4. Montserrat v Turks & Caicos Islands (4-0)
5. Dominica v Aruba (4-3)
6. Cayman Islands v Bahamas (2-3)

Qualification Round - Winner of each group directly qualifies for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H	Group I
Costa Rica	Ecuador	Argentina	Chile	Uruguay	Peru	Colombia	Panama	Brazil
Venezuela	Trinidad & Tobago	El Salvador	Haiti	Bolivia	Curacao	Jamaica	Honduras	Paraguay
Suriname	St Kitts & Nevis	Puerto Rico	Barbados	Antigua & Barbuda	Guatemala	Dominican Republic	Nicaragua	Guyana
Dominica	Belize	US Virgin Islands	Bahamas	Cuba	St Lucia	Bermuda	Montserrat	Grenada

Second round - Runners Up of each group progress to play-off group - winners of each group progress to Intercontinental Playoffs

Group A	Group B	Group C
Runner Up G	Runner Up I	Runner Up B
Runner Up H	Runner Up D	Runner Up F
Runner Up A	Runner Up E	Runner Up C

WEST ASIA
Playoff round

1. Pakistan v Sri Lanka (7-1)

Qualification Round - Winner of each group directly qualifies for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Iran	Qatar	Iraq	Saudi Arabia
Oman	Uzbekistan	Jordan	UAE
Bahrain	Syria	Kyrgyzstan	Palestine
Kuwait	India	Tajikistan	Lebanon
Yemen	Maldives	Turkmenistan	Afghanistan
Pakistan	Bhutan	Nepal	Bangladesh

West Asian Playoffs - single leg playoff bracket at neutral venue, winner qualifies for Intercontinental Playoff

1. Runner Up B v Runner Up D
2. Runner Up C v Runner Up A
3. Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2

PACIFIC
Playoff round

1. Guam v Tonga (1-2)
2. American Samoa v Samoa (1-5)

Qualification Round - Winner of each group directly qualifies for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E
Korea Republic	China	Australia	Japan	Vietnam
Thailand	Korea DPR	New Zealand	Philippines	Solomon Islands
Chinese Taipei	Hong Kong	Indonesia	Singapore	Malaysia
Tahiti	Papua New Guinea	New Caledonia	Myanmar	Vanuatu
Fiji	Mongolia	Laos	Cambodia	Macau
Timor-Leste	Tonga	Samoa	Cook Islands	Brunei

Pacific Playoffs - single leg playoff bracket at neutral venue, winner qualifies for Intercontinental Playoff
- A random draw will be held once the four participants have been determined. The four nations that finished second in their group with the best record will advance to the Pacific Playoffs

1. A v B
2. C v D
3. Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2

EUROPE
Qualification Round - Top 2 of each group directly qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- Note, prohibited matches as identified by UEFA have been taken into consideration

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Italy	England	France	Netherlands	Portugal	Belgium	Spain	Croatia
Switzerland	Sweden	Denmark	Poland	Turkey	Ukraine	Austria	Germany
Russia	Serbia	Scotland	Slovakia	Czechia	Wales	Romania	Hungary
Greece	Iceland	Norway	Republic of Ireland	Albania	Georgia	Slovenia	Finland
Luxembourg	Montenegro	Bulgaria	North Macedonia	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Armenia	Israel	Northern Ireland
Belarus	Azerbaijan	Latvia	Kosovo	Kazakhstan	Estonia	Cyprus	Lithuania
Moldova	Liechtenstein	Faroe Islands	Malta	San Marino	Gibraltar		Andorra

I simmed the entry round Playoffs and have fixed the groups in the quote - will provide sim results of qualifying groups when I've simmed them all. I'm not sim-watching the matches like I did before on other sims, I'm just simming the groups, but need to do them one group at a time unfortunately.