New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) Former English footballer and commentator Paul Masefield does not believe the expanded format of the 2026 World Cup will place a significant additional burden on players, saying FIFA and continental confederations are already working on scheduling solutions to manage the increased number of qualification matches.

With the 48-team World Cup creating more opportunities for nations to qualify, concerns have been raised about an increasingly congested football calendar and the growing demands placed on players balancing club and international commitments. However, Masefield feels the sport's governing bodies are adapting to the challenge.

"Every team will want to get a chance at the FIFA World Cup. It will," Masefield told IANS when asked whether the expanded tournament could intensify concerns over player workload and the club-versus-country debate.

Paul, who is part of the expert panel for ZEE5's coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026, pointed out that qualification structures are being redesigned to accommodate the larger competition without significantly increasing the burden on players.

"But what I think they're doing is revamping scheduling, and they're changing the sort of schedules of what they're going to do for future qualifications so that they can play more games in a shorter space of time. That's one thing," he said.

Masefield believes most regions are already well-equipped to handle the expanded qualification process and does not foresee major issues across Asia, Africa, or the Americas.

"I don't think that there's an issue when it comes to Asia because of the amount of time that they do start the qualifications for the next World Cup. So, it's not going to affect them. I don't think it will affect Africa. I don't think it will affect North or South America," he added.

According to Masefield, Europe is the only confederation where fixture congestion could become a concern, but discussions are already underway to reduce the load on players.

"I think the only thing it can affect is Europe, and I think that what Europe are trying to do now and what the talk is, is that they're going to be having a pre-qualifying competition for the lesser nations, which takes less of a burden off the players playing to qualify for the World Cup."

He added that the proposed changes are part of FIFA's wider plan to make the World Cup more inclusive while ensuring the qualification process remains sustainable. "So, again, that's all down, and it's all part of FIFA's strategy of what they want to do and how they want to involve everybody moving forward," he concluded.

--IANS

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