Section 2 of three

How the places are actually distributed

211 associations, six confederations, and a formula that gets argued about.

• FIFA has more members than the United Nations211 associations belong to FIFA, more than the UN has member states, because football recognises territories that diplomacy does not.
• Places are distributed by confederation, and the split is contestedEach confederation receives a quota, and the arithmetic behind it is argued about at every cycle rather than settled once.
• Expanding to forty-eight changes who the tournament is forThe 2026 expansion alters both the qualification maths and what a group stage is, and the confederations gain unevenly.
• Money moves down the pyramid by formulaFIFA solidarity payments and training compensation are the mechanism by which a transfer is meant to reach the club that developed the player.