The World Cup is already set to expand to 48 teams when it comes to North America in 2026, and now FIFA has updated the tournament’s format — a change that will make it longer and add games to the schedule.

At its annual congress in Kigali, Rwanda, the FIFA Council formally approved a move from the 64-game format the World Cup has used since 1998 to a 104-game one that will span over 39 days — making it the longest tournament in FIFA’s history.

The field will be divided into 12 groups of four nations each. As in previous editions, the top two teams after group play will advance to the knockout round — but unlike before, the top eight third-place teams will also advance, creating a 32-team knockout bracket.

FIFA’s originally proposed format to accommodate the extra teams would have created 16 groups of three for 80 total games.

However, many critics raised issues with that plan, as it would dilute the excitement of simultaneous final group-stage games and potentially create collusion among nations to advance to the knockout stage.

FIFA plans to make up the lost time the extra games will require by reducing the pre-tournament release period from 23 days to 16 days — less than in previous tournaments, but still significantly more time than players had to prepare for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Alex Rodriguez is still set to take over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx — despite some skepticism in the industry.

Rodriguez and business partner Marc Lore need to pay around $250 million by March 28 to increase their stake in the Timberwolves to 40% as part of a broader $1.5 billion takeover deal. Recent reports have questioned whether the pair would be able to meet the deadline.

“The money is in the bank and ready to be funded today,” a spokesperson for A-Rod told the New York Post. 

In July 2021, the former Yankees player and his business partner paid around $250 million for a 20% stake, with the option to increase their stake to 40% by March 28 and then to 80% by March 28, 2024. 

If either deadline passes, current owner Glen Taylor — who purchased the team for $88 million in 1994 — could reportedly nullify the deal and keep the pair as minority owners. Forbes last valued the Timberwolves at $1.67 billion.

A-Rod reportedly had issues during the first round of payments — he only provided funds equivalent to a 7% stake, with Lore providing 13%. 

Rodriguez’s SPAC has also run into issues. Slam Corp. said in February that investors redeemed roughly 61% of its 57.5 million shares as investors approved a deadline extension for the SPAC to look for a deal.

Microsoft is racking up “Call of Duty” deals to show regulators it can share the hugely popular title.

The tech giant struck a 10-year deal with Ukraine-based cloud gaming company Boosteroid to distribute Xbox and Activision Blizzard titles. 

Boosteroid operates in six U.S. states, the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, and Serbia. 

Microsoft has struck similar distribution deals with Nintendo and Nvidia as it seeks to assuage regulators’ concerns that its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard would harm competition. The gaming giant also makes “Diablo,” “World of Warcraft,” and “Candy Crush Saga.”

The transaction, a record for the gaming industry, is receiving scrutiny in the U.S., U.K., and E.U. The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the deal in December.

The three deals make it “even more clear to regulators that our acquisition of Activision Blizzard will make ‘Call of Duty’ available on far more devices than before,” said Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith.

E.U. regulators have until April 11 to rule on the acquisition. The U.K.’s deadline is April 26.

Activision Blizzard rode a $3.6 billion fourth quarter to $8.5 billion in revenue last year. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” banked more than $1 billion in 10 days following its release on Oct. 28.