2024 FIFA Series


The 2024 FIFA Series was the inaugural edition of the FIFA Series, an invitational association football tournament promoted by FIFA that features friendly matches between national teams from different continental confederations. The inaugural edition featured six different series that took place across five host countries from 21 to 26 March 2024.

Background

The friendly tournament was first announced as a FIFA initiative in December 2022 under the name "FIFA World Series", and later confirmed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on 16 March 2023 following his re-election to the post during the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda. The competition will bring together men's national teams from its six confederations in a series of friendly tournaments during the FIFA match window in March of every even-numbered year. The tournament is intended to provide FIFA's member associations with "key playing opportunities" by allowing them to more regularly play teams from other confederations which they would otherwise not face, allowing for greater technical development opportunities. It is also intended to provide member associations with additional commercial opportunities and exposure.
The 2024 edition acted as a pilot phase for the tournament. In each series apart from Egypt, all inter-confederation fixtures were the first international meeting between the sides.

Participating teams

The following teams participated in the 2024 event.
SeriesTeamConfederationFIFA Rankings
February 2024
AlgeriaCAF43
AlgeriaUEFA164
AlgeriaCONMEBOL86
AlgeriaCAF58
AzerbaijanUEFA113
AzerbaijanUEFA83
AzerbaijanAsian [Football Confederation|AFC]190
AzerbaijanCAF119
EgyptUEFA10
EgyptCAF36
EgyptOFC103
EgyptCAF41
Saudi Arabia AAFC179
Saudi Arabia ACAF65
Saudi Arabia ACAF79
Saudi Arabia ACONCACAF157
Saudi Arabia BCONCACAF171
Saudi Arabia BAFC194
Saudi Arabia BCAF76
Saudi Arabia BOFC170
Sri LankaAFC184
Sri LankaCAF129
Sri LankaOFC165
Sri LankaAFC204

Venues

CountryCityStadiumCapacity
AlgeriaAlgiersNelson Mandela Stadium40,784
AlgeriaAnnaba19 May 1956 Stadium56,000
AzerbaijanBakuDalga Arena6,500
AzerbaijanBakuTofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium31,200
EgyptCairoCairo International Stadium75,000
EgyptNew Administrative CapitalMisr Stadium93,940
Saudi ArabiaJeddahKing Abdullah Sports City62,345
Saudi ArabiaJeddahPrince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City27,000
Sri LankaColomboColombo Racecourse10,000

Series

The series were organized as international friendlies. Only the Egypt series featured a knockout format, with winners determined by a penalty shoot-out following a tie.
All times are local. Each team's confederation is indicated in brackets.

Algeria

The FIFA Series: Algeria took place in Annaba and Algiers from 21 to 26 March 2024, and involved the hosts Algeria, Andorra, Bolivia and South Africa. Andorra entered the series as a replacement for Albania, which had originally been invited but preferred to play friendlies in Europe, considering them better preparation ahead of UEFA Euro 2024.
Initially, the tournament was expected to be played in a different format, with semi-finals to be played in Oran and Annaba and the finals to be played in Algiers.

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Azerbaijan

The FIFA Series: Azerbaijan took place in Baku on 22 and 25 March 2024, and involved the hosts Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Mongolia and Tanzania.

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Egypt (ACUD Cup)

The FIFA Series: Egypt, also known as the ACUD International Football Cup, took place in Cairo and the New Administrative Capital on 22, 23 and 26 March 2024, and involved the hosts Egypt, Croatia, New Zealand and Tunisia.
The tournament was originally not part of the FIFA Series, but a separate cup event called the Winsunited Cup. It was scheduled to be played in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. However, due to sponsorship issues, on 14 March 2024 the tournament was moved to Egypt, and became part of the FIFA Series.
Croatia won the tournament following a 4–2 victory over the hosts Egypt in the final.

Semi-finals

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Saudi Arabia A

The FIFA Series: Saudi Arabia A took place in Jeddah from 21 to 26 March 2024, and involved Cambodia, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea and Guyana.

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Saudi Arabia B

The FIFA Series: Saudi Arabia B took place in Jeddah from 21 to 26 March 2024, and involved Bermuda, Brunei, Guinea and Vanuatu.
Initially Curaçao was also expected to participate, but they were eventually replaced by Bermuda.

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Sri Lanka

The FIFA Series: Sri Lanka took place in Colombo on 22 and 25 March 2024, and involved the hosts Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Central African Republic and Papua New Guinea.
The tournament acted as a successor to the 2021 Four Nations Football Tournament, also held at the same venue.

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