The World Cup group stage has 72 matches in the 48-team format being played now. That comes from 12 groups with 6 matches each, so 12×6=7212\times 6=7212×6=72.

Quick math

  • 48 teams
  • 12 groups
  • 4 teams per group
  • Each group has 6 matches
  • Total group-stage matches: 72

Why that number changed

In older World Cups with 32 teams, the group stage had 48 matches because there were 8 groups. With the expanded tournament, the group stage is larger, so the match count increased as well.

TL;DR: the current World Cup group stage features 72 matches.