World Cup 2026 draw to adopt tennis-style system for the four top seeds
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Spain, Argentina, France, England will be top seeds
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Fifa says measure will ‘ensure competitive balance’
The four highest-placed teams in Fifa’s rankings have had a pathway cleared to meet in the World Cup semi-finals after tennis-style seeding measures were introduced in the name of “ensuring competitive balance”.
Spain, Argentina, France and England – the top four in descending order – are to be split into different brackets in the 48-team finals tournament, with the aim of preventing Spain from facing Argentina, or England from playing France, before a possible final.