Four changes that could be made to the World Cup in the future – including robot linos

Football fans have witnessed a number of changes to the World Cup in recent editions of the tournament.

From expanding the number of teams to the introduction of goal-line technology and VAR, the World Cup has changed considerably since the first edition of the event back in 1930. However, the competition may evolve even further in the years to come, ranging from the already confirmed to the completely bonkers.

Here, Daily Star Sport runs through a handful of the changes that could be made to the World Cup in the future.

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48 teams

In a change that we are already guaranteed to see at the next edition of the tournament, the World Cup will be expanded from 32 to 48 teams.

This will first come into effect for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA after a unanimous vote by the FIFA Council in 2017 confirmed the change. All three host nations will qualify automatically.

The increase in participating nations will also see the format change from eight groups of four to 16 groups of three. The top two teams in each group will progress to the round of 32.

60 minute matches

Although fans have been treated to much longer matches this tournament with the increase in stoppage time, game lengths could soon go the opposite way.

Due to climate change and rising temperatures, changes may have to be made to combat the effects of the soaring heat on players.

BBC Sport predict that by the 2050 World Cup, matches will have been changed to three 20-minute thirds and with rolling substitutes to deal with the temperatures.

Robot linesmen

The 2022 World Cup has seen the introduction of semi-automated technology to detect offsides quicker, having also been trialled in this season’s Champions League.

Although not literally robot linesmen, the technology has been given such a nickname. As the game evolves, though, that could well be the case.

If the new system, which is used to speed up VAR reviews, proves to be a success then it could be brought in permanently to replace assistant referees.

Played on the moon

One change that is slightly less likely to happen in the near future is the idea that the World Cup could be played on another planet or even the moon.

With the human race having already made it to the moon, that is the most likely destination for an off-planet World Cup. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter even joked that it could one day be a possibility.

However, that could prove a challenge due to the lack of gravity on the moon, which experts believe would make such a tournament simply impossible.

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