World football’s governing body FIFA announced in November that the tournaments would be expanded to include friendly matches in 2026, while also launching a women’s edition, with a total of 11 host nations.
Australia, Cape Verde, Curacao, New Zealand and Uzbekistan – all of which qualified for the 2026 Men’s World Cup – will participate in this year’s FIFA Series during the international competition period in March and April.
The aim is to favor national teams that do not have opportunities to play against teams from other continents, with FIFA contributing to travel costs, accommodation and other logistics.
While some matches in the first 24-nation series in 2024 were sparsely attended, others generated strong interest among fans, with more than 85,000 in attendance for the Egyptian tournament final against Croatia in Cairo, which lost 4-2.
Men’s groups
Indonesia: Bulgaria, Indonesia (hosts), Solomon Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis
Rwanda – Group A: Estonia, Grenada, Kenya, Rwanda (host)
Rwanda – Group B: Aruba, Liechtenstein, Macau, Tanzania
Puerto Rico: American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico (hosts), US Virgin Islands
Uzbekistan: Gabon, Trinidad and Tobago, Uzbekistan (hosts), Venezuela
Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan (hosts), Oman, Sierra Leone, St. Lucia
Australia: Australia (hosts), Cameroon, China, Curaçao
New Zealand: Cape Verde, Chile, Finland, New Zealand (hosts)
Kazakhstan: Comoros, Kazakhstan (hosts), Kuwait, Namibia
Women’s groups
Thailand: Congo DR, Nepal, OFC team, Thailand (hosts)
Ivory Coast: Ivory Coast (hosts), Mauritania, Pakistan, Turks and Caicos Islands
Brazil: Brazil (hosts), Canada, Korea, Republic of, Zambia
Published on January 19, 2026
