Here’s what we know about the new FIFA Series 2024.
In a bid to uplift teams from the lower rungs of world rankings, FIFA has come up with a new international competition. Named FIFA Series, it will see a host of teams from all around the globe partaking in friendly matches. But is FIFA’s well-intentioned endeavour likely to benefit anyone? Let’s find out!
The idea of this friendly competition was first brought up when FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed it in December 2022. On Monday, 26 February, the apex global governing body for the sport formally announced the FIFA Series and its launch date.
Now, let’s delve deep into all the details of the FIFA Series, including the format of the international friendlies competition, as well as the schedule (including the start and end dates) and venues for the 2024 edition.
Everything you need to know about the FIFA Series 2024
What will be the format of the FIFA Series?
The newly-announced FIFA Series will be a biennial event, according to the governing body.
To give an overview of the project, all six continental confederations — UEFA (Europe), CONMEBOL (South America), CONCACAF (North and Central America), CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia) and OFC (Oceania) — have agreed in unison to send teams to play a series of friendly matches against each other.
“This is a great opportunity to enable member associations that do not have regular opportunities to play against teams from other confederations,” said Elkhan Mammadov, FIFA’s director of European member associations.
A look at the start and end dates for the FIFA Series 2024 and its venues
On Monday, 26 February, FIFA announced that the pilot project of the FIFA Series 2024 will be contested during the international window in March. The tournament will be played in four different countries — Algeria, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia.
A total of 20 teams have signed up for the 2024 edition of this friendly games competition. However, it is important to note that the participating teams have been classified into groups of four and will only play in the nation assigned to them by FIFA.
The partaking nations are as follows:
Algeria
Teams playing in Algeria: Algeria, Bolivia, Andorra, South Africa
Azerbaijan
Teams playing in Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Tanzania, Bulgaria
Sri Lanka
Teams playing in Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, Central African Republic
Saudi Arabia
Teams playing in Saudi Arabia:
Group A: Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Cambodia
Group B: Guinea, Vanuatu, Bermuda, Brunei
Contrary to the other host nations, Saudi Arabia will not be partaking in the pilot edition of the FIFA Series. This is because the competition has been structured to benefit teams that have not been able to gain enough exposure like playing in the FIFA World Cup.
According to Mammadov, for the 2026 edition, the governing body is hoping for several other teams (including the higher-ranked ones) from all the confederations to join the bandwagon.
The FIFA Series 2024 will be played between 18 and 26 March.
Does the FIFA Series 2024 offer any prize money to the winners?
According to FIFA, the series has been designed to benefit the international sides which seldom get opportunities to face teams from other confederations. Therefore, the tournament is aimed at developing the sport and does not offer a trophy or any prize money.
However, the governing body will cover the travel expenses of all the teams (including the players and the support staff).
The upcoming FIFA World Cup, to be jointly hosted by the United States of America, Mexico and Canada in 2026, will feature 48 teams instead of 32. This also means that the marquee tournament will see a lot of first-timers in 2026.
To ensure that the new entrants in the World Cup do not suffer abysmally owing to their lack of experience, the global governing body pushed for the start of the FIFA Series this year. According to Kenny Jean-Marie, FIFA’s chief of member associations, the friendly games competition can serve as a worthwhile exercise for the partaking nations.
(Main and Featured Images Credits: FIFA)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– When will the FIFA Series 2024 end?
The FIFA Series 2024 will end on 26 March.
– How many teams will be participating in the FIFA Series 2024?
A total of 20 teams from all six continental confederations will partake in the FIFA Series 2024.
This story originally appeared in Augustman India
Uddipta writes about sports and watches besides occasionally venturing into the world of automobiles and technology. He was associated with the Indian Express in the capacity of a sub-editor at their Lifestyle desk. A journalism and mass communication student from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, Uddipta devotes most of his leisure time to photography and filmmaking. He has contributed photographs to Vogue Italia and several exhibits, and has directed award-winning short films screened at film festivals in India and abroad.
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