A new tournament called the FIFA Series will be trialed at the end of March, with 20 teams placed into five groups of four to play friendlies.
Each group will have two hosts, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Azerbaijan, and Sri Lanka, and each group will have all of its games in one venue. The three UEFA teams competing in the trial are Andorra, Bulgaria, and Azerbaijan.
Minnows Andorra will play three friendlies in Algeria, including matches with Bolivia and South Africa in addition to the match against the hosts. Tanzania, Bulgaria, and Mongolia will be up against another host, Azerbaijan.
Saudi Arabian group members Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation ranked 170th in the world by FIFA, will also compete.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated, “The FIFA Series is a positive step forward for national-team football at the global level.”
“Our member associations have been telling us for a long time now of their desire to test themselves against their counterparts from all around the world. And now they can do so within the current Men’s International Match Calendar.
“More meaningful matches will enable far more valuable footballing interaction for players, teams, and fans and will make a concrete contribution to the development of the game.”
The competition will take place in four locations from March 18 to 26, 2024.
The group stage lineup is as follows:
FIFA Series Algeria: Algeria, South Africa, Bolivia, Andorra.
FIFA Series Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Tanzania.
FIFA Series Saudi Arabia A: Cape Verde, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana.
FIFA Series Saudi Arabia B: Bermuda, Brunei, Guinea, Vanuatu.
FIFA Series Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Bhutan, Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea.
