After the declaration of the expanded format in November 2025, the FIFA Series 2026 will include 48 national teams competing in 12 groups of four during the international match window in March and April. With 48 participating teams—representing nearly 25% of FIFA’s 211 Member Associations—approximately a quarter of the global football community will be involved in the FIFA Series.
Eleven FIFA Member Associations will serve as hosts for the series of events, with Rwanda hosting two groups, bringing the total to 12. This initiative will comprise nine men’s groups and three women’s groups, with representation from all six FIFA confederations, emphasizing the truly international scope of the FIFA Series.
The confirmed hosts for the men’s groups include Australia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, and Uzbekistan. The women’s matches will occur in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, and Thailand.
All encounters of the FIFA Series 2026 will be broadcasted and made accessible to a global audience, ensuring international visibility for participating national teams and enhancing access for fans across all regions.
The FIFA Series 2026 unites national teams with a diverse array of competitive profiles, reinforcing its development-focused design. On the men’s side, the teams range across the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, from well-established teams like Australia (ranked 26th) to emerging football nations such as the US Virgin Islands (ranked 207th). For the women’s teams, participants will include those ranked as high as Brazil (ranked 7th) down to Turks and Caicos (ranked 194th). This diversity highlights FIFA’s commitment to facilitating meaningful international matches for representative teams of Member Associations at all development stages.
Five men’s national teams participating in the FIFA Series 2026—Australia, Cabo Verde, Curaçao, New Zealand, and Uzbekistan—have also secured spots in the FIFA World Cup 2026.
