FIFA (International Football Federation) announced this Monday (19) the participants and hosts of the FIFA Series 2026 groups, a competition created by the entity with the aim of helping in the development of women’s football and supporting men’s teams from federations with fewer resources.
The Brazilian women’s team will be one of the participants, as well as hosting its group, which also includes Canada, Zambia and South Korea.
The dates of the games in Brazil and the crossroads have not yet been defined, but Cuiabá emerges as the favorite to host the clashes. The city does not have any club in Series A of the Brazilian Championship, reducing possible calendar conflicts, in addition to the Arena Pantanal having the structure to host national team games as it was one of the stadiums for the 2014 World Cup.
The capital of Mato Grosso, however, is not among those selected by FIFA to host matches for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The tournament venues are: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Fortaleza, Salvador, Brasília and Porto Alegre.
In the FIFA Series, there will be 11 venues and 12 groups of four teams, comprising all confederations affiliated to world football’s highest entity, with nine groups for men and three for women. The teams will only face each other within their brackets.
“The FIFA Series 2026 remains fully aligned with FIFA’s strategic objectives for Global Football: 2023-2027, providing national teams with opportunities for inter-confederation competition without adding games to the international calendar, while promoting technical growth, organizational development and global exchange,” the entity said in a statement.
The matches, which in practice are a series of international friendlies, will be played in March and April. Five men’s teams that will participate in the FIFA Series are also qualified for the 2026 World Cup: Australia, Cape Verde, Curaçao, New Zealand and Uzbekistan.
Born from a pilot project carried out by the entity in 2024, the tournament does not have a trophy or prize money, but FIFA covers all the teams’ expenses with travel, accommodation and organization of the games.
According to the entity, all matches will be broadcast live, free of charge, on the FIFA+ platform.
Men’s groups
Australia
Azerbaijan
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Azerbaijan
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Oman
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Sierra Leone
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Saint Lucia
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
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Comoros
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Kazakhstan
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Kuwait
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Namibia
New Zealand
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Cape Verde
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Chile
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Finland
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New Zealand
Puerto Rico
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Samoa Americana
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Guam
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Puerto Rico
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US Virgin Islands
Rwanda – Group A
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Estonia
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Granada
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Kenya
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Rwanda
Rwanda – Group B
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Liechtenstein
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Macau
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Tanzania
Uzbekistan
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Gabon
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Trinidad e Tobago
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Uzbekistan
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Venezuela
Women’s groups
Brazil
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Brazil
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Canada
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Republic of Korea
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Zambia
Ivory Coast
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Ivory Coast
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Mauritania
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Pakistan
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Turks and Caicos Islands
Thailand
