| Tourney Name: | FIFA Series |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Country: | Algeria |
| Country2: | Azerbaijan |
| Country3: | Egypt |
| Country4: | Saudi Arabia |
| Country5: | Sri Lanka |
| Dates: | 21–26 March |
| Num Teams: | 24 |
| Confederations: | 6 |
| Venues: | 9 |
| Champion Other: | Algeria Bulgaria Croatia  Cape VerdeGuinea Central African Republic |
| Cities: | 7 |
| Matches: | 24 |
| Goals: | 68 |
| Top Scorer: | Yassine Benzia Tieri-Teddy Godame Mamadou Kané Morlaye Sylla (3 goals each) |
| Nextseason: | 2026 |
The 2024 FIFA Series was the inaugural edition of the FIFA Series, an invitational association football competition 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.[1]
The friendly competition was first announced as a FIFA initiative in December 2022 under the name "FIFA World Series",[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The competition 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.[1]
The 2024 edition acted as a pilot phase for the competition.[1] In each series apart from Egypt (which was a late addition), all inter-confederation fixtures were the first international meeting between the sides.[5]
The following teams participated in the 2024 event.
| Series | Team | Confederation | FIFA Rankings February 2024[6] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | CAF | 43 | |
| UEFA | 164 | ||
| CONMEBOL | 86 | ||
| CAF | 58 | ||
| Azerbaijan | UEFA | 113 | |
| UEFA | 83 | ||
| AFC | 190 | ||
| CAF | 119 | ||
| Egypt | UEFA | 10 | |
| CAF | 36 | ||
| OFC | 103 | ||
| CAF | 41 | ||
| Saudi Arabia A | AFC | 179 | |
| CAF | 65 | ||
| CAF | 79 | ||
| CONCACAF | 157 | ||
| Saudi Arabia B | CONCACAF | 171 | |
| AFC | 194 | ||
| CAF | 76 | ||
| OFC | 170 | ||
| Sri Lanka | AFC | 184 | |
| CAF | 129 | ||
| OFC | 165 | ||
| AFC | 204 |
| Confederation | Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| AFC | 5 | |
| CAF | 9 | |
| CONCACAF | 2 | |
| CONMEBOL | 1 | |
| OFC | 3 | |
| UEFA | 4 |
| Country | City | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | Algiers | Nelson Mandela Stadium | 40,784 | |
| Annaba | 19 May 1956 Stadium | 56,000 | ||
| Azerbaijan | Baku | Dalga Arena | 6,500 | |
| Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium | 31,200 | |||
| Egypt | Cairo | Cairo International Stadium | 75,000 | |
| New Administrative Capital | Misr Stadium | 93,940 | ||
| Saudi Arabia | Jeddah | King Abdullah Sports City | 62,345 | |
| Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium | 27,000 | |||
| Sri Lanka | Colombo | Colombo Racecourse | 10,000 |
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.[7] [8] Each team's confederation is indicated in brackets.
The FIFA Series: Algeria took place in Annaba and Algiers from 21 to 26 March 2024, and involved the hosts Algeria (CAF), Andorra (UEFA), Bolivia (CONMEBOL) and South Africa (CAF).[9] [10]
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.[11] Albania was also expected to participate but eventually declined to instead play friendlies in Europe and was replaced by Andorra.[12]
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The FIFA Series: Azerbaijan took place in Baku on 22 and 25 March 2024, and involved the hosts Azerbaijan (UEFA), Bulgaria (UEFA), Mongolia (AFC) and Tanzania (CAF).[13] [14] [15] [16]
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 (CAF), Croatia (UEFA), New Zealand (OFC) and Tunisia (CAF).[17]
The tournament was originally not part of the FIFA Series, but a separate cup event called the Winsunited Cup (W Cup).[18] It was scheduled to be played in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[19] However, due to sponsorship issues, on 14 March 2024 the tournament was moved to Egypt,[20] [21] and became part of the FIFA Series.[22]
Croatia won the tournament following a 4–2 victory over the hosts Egypt in the final.[23]
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The FIFA Series: Saudi Arabia A took place in Jeddah from 21 to 26 March 2024, and involved Cambodia (AFC), Cape Verde (CAF), Equatorial Guinea (CAF) and Guyana (CONCACAF).[24] [25] [26]
The FIFA Series: Saudi Arabia B took place in Jeddah from 21 to 26 March 2024, and involved Bermuda (CONCACAF), Brunei (AFC), Guinea (CAF) and Vanuatu (OFC).[25]
Initially Curaçao was also expected to participate, but they were eventually replaced by Bermuda.[27]
The FIFA Series: Sri Lanka took place in Colombo on 22 and 25 March 2024, and involved the hosts Sri Lanka (AFC), Bhutan (AFC), Central African Republic (CAF) and Papua New Guinea (OFC).[28] [29] [30] [31]
The tournament acted as a successor to the 2021 Four Nations Football Tournament, also held at the same venue.[32]