FIFA made official the list of national teams and the format of the expanded edition of the FIFA Series 2026, a global project of friendly mini-tournaments that will once again be played during the international window in March and April. For the first time, the competition will include men's and women's tournaments, with a total of 48 countries belonging to the six confederations of world soccer.
The tournament represents an expansion of the pilot model developed in 2024 and aims to generate uncommon matchups between national teams from different regions, without adding extra dates to the international calendar. The structure includes twelve groups of four teams each: nine corresponding to men's soccer and three to women's, with eleven host federations that will stage all the matches.
In the men's competition, the matches will be played in Australia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Rwanda (in two series) and Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, the women's competition will take place in Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Thailand. In total, the event will bring together a quarter of FIFA's member countries.
Among the confirmed national teams, there will be five countries that will also take part in the 2026 World Cup, along with several emerging sides. As for the teams from CONMEBOL, Chile and Venezuela will play in the men's competition and Brazil will play in the women's competition.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that all the matches will have official broadcasts, while the detailed schedule will be announced "in due course", according to the organization.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino highlighted the spirit of the competition and stated: "FIFA Series seeks to offer new opportunities to players, coaches, and fans, and to foster the universality and diversity of soccer through competitive matches. The 2026 edition will benefit even more both women's and men's national teams".
FIFA emphasized that the initiative is part of its strategic plan to develop the game at a global level, with the objective of promoting technical growth, organizational strengthening, and exchanges between federations, largely rotating the participants compared with the inaugural edition, which was played between March 21 and 26, 2024.
All participants and groups of the 2026 edition
Men's Groups
Australia (AFC)
