FIFA Series

FIFA Series
Organising bodyFIFA
Founded2024; 0 years ago (2024)
RegionInternational
Number of teams24 (from 6 confederations)
WebsiteOfficial website
2024 FIFA Series

The FIFA Series, originally known as FIFA World Series, is a biennial invitational football competition promoted by FIFA that features international friendlies between national teams from different confederations, taking place in March of every even-numbered year. The first edition was held in March 2024.

The competition brings together men's national teams from all six FIFA confederations in a series of mini-tournaments, each consisting of four teams and held at a centralised venue during the FIFA match window in March of every even-numbered year.[1][2] FIFA provides financial support to the participating national teams and is also in charge of organising the tournaments together with the host member association.[3]

History

[edit]

On 16 December 2022, FIFA launched a friendly competition proposal, named the "FIFA World Series", in order to give national teams from different confederations more opportunities to play against each other.[1][4][5] FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed the competition on 16 March 2023, following his re-election to the post during the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.[3]

The inaugural edition in 2024 will feature five different series, taking place across four host countries during the FIFA match window from 18 to 26 March 2024.[2]

On 19 March 2024, FIFA announced Egypt to host the FIFA Series: Egypt matches.[6] The matches were originally meant to be played in UAE with the tournament called Winsunited Cup, later changed to ACUD Cup, now FIFA Series: Egypt.[7][8]

Participating teams

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Legend
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th – Final placing of each team within its tournament
  •      – Hosts of FIFA Series for that year
  • I – Invited for upcoming tournament
AFC
Team 2024
 Bhutan 4th
 Brunei 2nd
 Cambodia 4th
 Mongolia 4th
 Sri Lanka 2nd
CAF
Nation 2024
 Algeria 1st
 Cape Verde 1st
 Central African Republic 1st
 Egypt 2nd
 Equatorial Guinea 3rd
 Guinea 1st
 South Africa 3rd
 Tanzania 3rd
 Tunisia 3rd
CONCACAF
Nation 2024
 Bermuda 3rd
 Guyana 2nd
CONMEBOL
Nation 2024
 Bolivia 2nd
OFC
Nation 2024
 New Zealand 4th
 Papua New Guinea 3rd
 Vanuatu 4th
UEFA
Nation 2024
 Andorra 4th
 Azerbaijan 2nd
 Bulgaria 1st
 Croatia 1st

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup 2022™ praised for its "unique cohesive power"" (in Spanish). FIFA. 16 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Qué es la FIFA Series, la competencia que contará con amistosos exóticos entre selecciones" [What is the FIFA Series, the competition that will feature exotic friendlies between national teams?] (in Spanish). Olé. 17 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "2023-2027: FIFA President lays out objectives for the future" (in Spanish). FIFA. 16 March 2023.
  4. ^ Smith, Alan (16 December 2022). "New FIFA World Series and how it could work as Gianni Infantino outlines new tournament plans". www.mirror.co.uk. Daily Mirror.
  5. ^ Sengupta, Ayon (16 December 2022). "FIFA to launch biennial 'FIFA World Series' for inter-confederation matches: President Infantino". sportstar.thehindu.com. Doha: Sportstar.
  6. ^ "Egypt announced as host as FIFA Series pilot phase expanded". FIFA. 19 March 2024.
  7. ^ Team, KingFut (13 March 2024). "OFFICIAL: Winsunited Cup to take place in Cairo instead of UAE". KingFut. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  8. ^ Egyptian Football Association [@EgyptNT_EN] (14 March 2024). "We are pleased to announce the participation of our national team in the inaugural ACUD Cup by Sports United alongside Croatia, Tunisia, and New Zealand. The tournament will be held in Egypt from March 18 to 26" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 March 2024 – via Twitter.