FIFA has confirmed the full line-up of hosts and the composition of the groups for the FIFA Series 2026™, marking a significant milestone in the continued expansion of the initiative for men’s and women’s national teams.
Following the announcement of the expanded format in November 2025, the FIFA Series 2026 will feature 48 national teams competing in 12 groups of four teams each during the international match window in March and April. With 48 participating teams representing almost 25% of FIFA’s 211 Member Associations, nearly a quarter of the global football community will take part in the tournament.
11 FIFA Member Associations will host the series of events, with Rwanda hosting two groups, bringing the total number of groups to 12. The initiative will include nine men’s groups and three women’s groups, with all six FIFA confederations represented.
The confirmed hosts for the groups are:
Men’s: Australia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, and Uzbekistan.
Women’s: Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, and Thailand.
The FIFA Series 2026 brings together national teams with a wide range of competitive profiles, reinforcing its development-driven design. On the men’s side, participating teams span the full breadth of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, from established teams such as Australia (ranked 26th) to emerging football nations like the US Virgin Islands (ranked 207th).
On the women’s side, the Series will feature teams ranked as high as Brazil (7th) and as low as Turks and Caicos (194th). This assortment is key to creating meaningful international bouts for countries at all stages of development.
Five men’s national teams participating in the FIFA Series 2026 (Australia, Cabo Verde, Curaçao, New Zealand, and Uzbekistan) have also qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
Atlanta’s Zahmyre Harris, a forward for the U.S. Virgin Islands, is looking forward to the new tournament and the opportunity that awaits.
“I’m feeling really good, motivated, and excited about the upcoming tournament,” he began. “I believe it will bring even more recognition to football in our region and is a great indication of the direction football is headed in the territories. It’s very motivating to see the direction football is headed, not only in FIFA but across the Caribbean. It’s always a blessing to represent our country on global stages like this.”
Harris has been a mainstay on the USVI Men’s National Team since 2019. Since then, he’s faced many Concacaf opponents, both in friendlies and tournaments. Unfortunately, they haven’t faced much competition outside of the region. “I believe it should be very competitive competition-wise with many countries we have never played against,” he says. “Playing so close to our country will be enjoyable, and we’re looking forward to competing.”
Puerto Rico will host the Concacaf group, with participants being American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
MEN’S GROUPS
Australia (AFC)
- Australia (host)
- Cameroon
- China PR
- Curaçao
Azerbaijan (UEFA)
- Azerbaijan (host)
- Oman
- Sierra Leone
- St Lucia
Indonesia (AFC)
- Bulgaria
- Indonesia (host)
- Solomon Islands
- St Kitts and Nevis
Kazakhstan (UEFA)
- Comoros
- Kazakhstan (host)
- Kuwait
- Namibia
New Zealand (OFC)
- Cabo Verde
- Chile
- Finland
- New Zealand (host)
Puerto Rico (Concacaf)
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Puerto Rico (host)
- US Virgin Islands
Rwanda(CAF) – Group A
- Estonia
- Grenada
- Kenya
- Rwanda (host)
Rwanda (CAF) – Group B
- Aruba
- Liechtenstein
- Macau
- Tanzania
Uzbekistan (AFC)
- Gabon
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uzbekistan (host)
- Venezuela
As women’s football continues its meteoric rise in popularity, there’s much excitement behind the ladies’ side of the FIFA Series. It’s a great opportunity to highlight talent often overlooked because of geographic location. A great example is Tiffany Sornpao (Vitória de Guimarães SC), an Atlanta native who plays for Thailand. She’s a top-tier goalkeeper, but you may not be as familiar with her as Casey Murphy, who plays in the National Women’s Soccer League in the U.S. Official rosters haven’t been announced yet, but other names to look for in the AFC group are Olga Massambo (Fenerbahçe/Congo DR), Madison Casteen (NC State/Thailand), and Anjila Tumbapo Subba (Sethu/Nepal).
The CONMEBOL group in Brazil is stacked with talent. Brazil, boasting the likes of Marta (Orlando Pride), Luany (Atletico Madrid), and Debinha (KC Current), will be hosting Canada, the Korea Republic, and Zambia. It will be interesting to see if the nations bring out all of their star power for the tournament. If so, we could see the likes of Racheal Kundananji (Bay FC/Zambia), Marie Alidou (Thorns FC/Canada), and Ji So-yun (Suwon FC/Korea Republic).
WOMEN’S GROUPS
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
- Brazil (host)
- Canada
- Korea Republic
- Zambia
Côte d’Ivoire (CAF)
- Côte d’Ivoire (host)
- Mauritania
- Pakistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
Thailand (AFC)
- Congo DR
- Nepal
- OFC team
- Thailand (host)
All FIFA Series 2026 encounters will be broadcast and made available to a global audience, ensuring worldwide visibility for participating national teams and increasing access for fans across all regions.
Match schedules for all FIFA Series 2026 events will be announced in the near future.