The expanded World Cup widened access. The knockout rounds did not.

The 2026 World Cup did what expansion promised: 48 teams reached the tournament, 16 more than in 2022, and 1,248 players arrived across 104 matches in three countries. FIFA built the event around 16 stadiums and a regionalised schedule intended to protect rest and reduce travel. 1

Then the knockout rounds began, and the old map reappeared.

Reuters counted players from the Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, LaLiga and Serie A as the "Big Five" European leagues. Together, those competitions supplied 464 of the 1,248 players, or 37% of the full field. That is a large bloc, but hardly a monopoly. 2

The elimination rounds changed the picture:

That is not proof that playing in England, Germany, France, Italy or Spain automatically makes a player better. It is a selection effect as much as a sporting one: the strongest national teams tend to draw from the richest, deepest club competitions, and those players are also more likely to survive several knockout rounds. But the progression is too sharp to ignore. Expansion widened the front door without moving the tournament's centre of gravity.

The new format gave more federations a place on football's biggest stage. It also exposed how difficult it is for that access to become sustained contention. Reuters found that 48 squads drew players from leagues in 68 countries, while 189 players from African national teams played club football in Europe. 2

That tension should shape the next conversation about the 48-team World Cup. A broader field is meaningful on its own. But if FIFA wants the competition to become more than a larger route into the same late-stage power structure, the development gains have to reach the leagues that supply the players, not only the federations that qualify.

The tournament was more global at the start. By the end, it was still being decided by the club game's established centre.