Fifa consider using penalty shootouts to decide drawn World Cup group matches from 2026
The move would accompany Gianni Infantino's plan to increase the competition to 48 teams playing in 16 groups of three
FIFA are considering yet another bizarre change to the format of the World Cup.
Earlier in the week, president Gianni Infantino revealed his ambition to introduce a 48-team World Cup, with the group stage consisting of 16 groups of three teams.
And now a report in states that penalty shootouts could be introduced to decide drawn group matches.
Three-team groups would significantly increase the likelihood of two or more sides finishing on the same points and goal difference, so penalties could be used as an extra decider.
There would also be the issue of two teams potentially being able to contrive a result in final group matches to ensure both qualify.
At the 1982 World Cup, West Germany and Austria played out a dull 1-0 to ensure both teams qualified from their group at the expense of Algeria in a match labelled 'The Disgrace of Gijon'.
In response, Fifa changed the rules of the tournament to ensure both final group games were played at the same time.
Clearly, if three-team groups are introduced, this would no longer be the case.
Any move to introduce penalty shootouts to prevent drawn matches would mark a significant shift in traditional Fifa policy.
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The United States used a similar system for all league matches until 1999 and attracted staunch criticism from then-Fifa president Joao Havelange.
A decision on changes to the World Cup format will be made at the next Fifa Council meeting in Zurich, which starts on January 9.
Infantino has confirmed he will submit his proposal for a 48-team tournament, but has not yet made a decision on whether to introduce shootouts in the event of a draw.
An alternative proposal is a 40-team tournament with the 16 lowest ranked teams playing off to make it into the final 32.
But this isn't believed to be as popular within Fifa as it would mean eight teams playing just one match.
Infantino said of his plan: “They are very supportive of expanding; everyone, unanimously — all those who were here.
“The big, big, big majority is in favour of the 48 teams with the 16 groups of three.”