FIFA Series: The ongoing international tournament no one knows about

Martin Macdonald

• 1 Apr 2026 10:01 CDT
• 3 min read

News

With all the drama surrounding the World Cup playoffs this week, you'd be forgiven for not noticing that an entirely separate international tournament has been going on at the same time.

While Italy dramatically lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties, Australia were beating Curacao 5-1, while Polish hearts were broken after a last-minute defeat to Sweden, Cameroon were beating China 2-0.

The non-World Cup playoff fixtures mentioned there were part of the FIFA Series, a biannual invitation-only tournament that includes friendly matches between countries from different continents.

The first edition of the FIFA Series took place in 2024 and it is set to take place every two years moving forward.

"The purpose of the FIFA Series is to facilitate meaningful international friendly matches between national teams from different confederations that would not normally compete against one another, thereby supporting football development both on and off the pitch," the official FIFA website says.

“The FIFA Series is about unlocking development potential for players, coaches and fans, while promoting football’s universality and diversity through meaningful matches," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement last year.

How does the tournament work?

For the 2026 edition, 50 national teams from six continents are represented and this is across men's senior football and women's senior football.

The men's edition ran from 25 March to 31 March across individual 'Series' relating to the host nations holding fixtures.

They are FIFA Series: Australia, FIFA Series: Azerbaijan, FIFA Series: Indonesia, FIFA Series: Kazakhstan, FIFA Series: New Zealand, FIFA Series: Puerto Rico, FIFA Series: Rwanda A, FIFA Series: Rwanda B and FIFA Series: Uzbekistan.

The format of each individual Series changes depending on whether there are four teams or three in a group, with some groups of four using a league format and some using knockout fixtures, depending on the confederation hosting.

"In each group, regardless of format, one Member Association will emerge as group victors. FIFA has endorsed this participant-led approach, as it enhances the competitive edge of these fixtures, makes them more engaging for fans, and provides a valuable sporting opportunity for all teams involved," the website reads.

The 2026 FIFA Series

Thirty-six teams were originally announced for the 2026 Men's FIFA Series but Oman and Kuwait had to withdraw due to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Israel and Iran.

Due to the March international break only allowing for two fixtures, the games were either played as semi-finals and a final in a group of four or two matches in a league, or a round robin style format in a group of three.

Australia won the Australia Series (league), Azerbaijan won Azerbaijan, Bulgaria won Indonesia (knockout), Kazakhstan won Kazakhstan (league), Finland won New Zealand (league), Puerto Rico won Puerto Rico (knockout), Rwanda won Rwanda A (knockout), Aruba won Rwanda B (knockout), and Uzbekistan won Uzbekistan (league).

In the Australia Series, Nestory Irankunda was named Player of the Tournament, while Islam Chesnokov, Leroy Jacques-Mickels and Abdukodir Khusanov won the award in Kazakhstan, Rwanda A and Uzbekistan, respectively.

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