World Cup: Why are FIFA considering adding penalty shootouts to group stage in 2026? | OneFootball

The Athletic have reported that FIFA are considering adding penalty shootouts to the World Cup group stage for the 2026 tournament.

Successful teams could potentially earn bonus points for winning the test of nerves, with FIFA hopeful that the rules implementation would help to decide tight groups.

Marco van Basten, FIFA’s chief technical development officer, has long been a fan of the addition of shootouts to throw the cat amongst the pigeons in tight groups.

What has Van Basten said on the matter?

“Shootouts could indeed be an option for tournaments with groups of three in which you play against two opponents,” the Dutch legend said to German outlet Sport Bild, via The Daily Mail.

“It can get pretty tight. If one team for instance draws one match 0-0 and wins the other 1-0, there’s a high risk that all three teams are level on points and goals in the end.”

Group stage shootouts could well be included in the 2026 World Cup, which is to be held across USA, Canada and Mexico.

The tournament will be the largest in the competition’s illustrious history since its inception in 1930, with no less than 48 teams due to qualify.

The final format for the competition is yet to be decided. FIFA could choose to stick with four-team groups and therefore have 12 separate groups rather than the usual eight.

Within that set-up, the eight best third placed teams could also progress to the knockouts.

However, football’s governing body could also opt for 16 separate three team groups.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, former Bayern Munich boss, believes this would add to the excitement of the World Cup and remove the possibility of any ‘boring’ final round group matches.

Per the Daily Mail, Hitzfeld said: “The third match in the group stage in the World Cup is often boring since the big nations are usually already through.

“With this format, tension would be guaranteed from the beginning, and we would swiftly move to the knockout stage.”

He has a point. Only yesterday, we witnessed France make nine changes to their starting eleven vs Tunisia after securing qualification from their group in matchday two.

But whether or not fans would want to change from the traditional World Cup format remains to be seen.