Shane Smeltz puts the All Whites ahead 1-0 against Italy at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

﻿The All Whites' chances of making the World Cup have received a significant boost with the Fifa Council ratifying the proposal to increase the size of the tournament to 48 teams, starting from the 2026 event.

The New Zealand football team was one of the big winners in the change to the tournament historically contested by 32 teams with the increase also coming with new qualifying criteria, including an automatic place for the top Oceania team.

The All Whites stood to benefit in this change as the best team in the Oceania confederation since Australia left to join the Asian confederation following the 2006 World Cup.

The All Whites were the only Oceania team to qualify for the world football showpiece since then, making it to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

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In other changes ratified by the Fifa Council on Tuesday (NZT Wednesday), Europe would have 16 teams in the tournament, up from 13, and Africa would have nine places instead of five. Asia will have eight spots.

North and central America have six spots as does South America.

The approved slot allocation includes an intercontinental play-off tournament involving six teams to decide the last two World Cup berths.

​The host country would also automatically qualify for the World Cup, and its slot would be taken from the quota of its confederation.