A 48 team World Cup in 2026 - How has the World Cup format changed since 1930?

World Cup Quarter-Finals, 1954 Lausanne, Switzerland. 26th June, 1954. Austria 7 v Switzerland 5. Swiss goalkeeper Parlier dives at the feet of Austrian striker Wagner to stop him scoring during their match.

1954- SWITZERLAND - 16 TEAMS - 26 MATCHES:

The Switzerland World Cup of 1954 did, unlike that of the previous tournament, begin the tournament with all 16 teams that had made it through the qualification stage. This is where we began to see the Group stages becoming more like that of the modern competition, although it did happen its own unique way. Four teams were assigned to each of the four groups, however, unlike a conventional round-robin, each team only played two others in their groups. If a match was a draw after 90 minutes, extra-time would be played to try and gain a definitive result.

Despite this, not all matches ended with one winner, with some draws being registered in the group stages. This didn’t work to full effect, with two groups needing extra matches to be played between those who were on joint points, for a position in the knockout stage. This led to a third match in two of the groups, before the quarter-finals could begin.

Finishing second in the group at this World Cup, was not all that bad. There were two routes to the final, one for those who finished first in the groups, who would all be drawn against each other, whilst the second-place teams in each group would play another second-place team. This proved favourable for West Germany who beat Yugoslavia in their quarter-final, to then dominate Austria in the semi-final which eventually saw them crowned World Cup champions.