<P> The current format of the competition involves a qualification phase , which currently takes place over the preceding three years , to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase , which is often called the World Cup Finals . After this , 32 teams , including the automatically qualifying host nation ( s ) , compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation ( s ) over a period of about a month . </P>
<P> The current format of the competition involves a qualification phase , which currently takes place over the preceding three years , to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase , which is often called the World Cup Finals . After this , 32 teams , including the automatically qualifying host nation ( s ) , compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation ( s ) over a period of about a month . </P>
how many countries participate in football world cup
how many countries participate in football world cup
32
32