QNA/FIFA
Doha
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Council approved the State of Qatar’s request to host the next three editions of the Arab Cup in 2025, 2029 and 2033, at its 74th Congress in Bangkok, Thailand.
In a statement on its official website, the FIFA Council confirmed the approval of the Qatar Football Association’s (QFA) request for Qatar to host the three editions of the tournament again after its successful hosting of the 2021 edition. The Council also decided that the upcoming three editions will be held in December of the aforementioned years.
QFA had expressed interest in hosting the event under the umbrella of FIFA and the Arab Federation out of the Arab region’s need for such tournaments, in addition to the availability of success factors and integrated infrastructure to host tournaments in Qatar.
The State of Qatar enjoys a prominent global position in organizing sporting events and tournaments, the most prominent of which were the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in which 32 teams participated, the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 in January and February 2024, and the U-23 AFC Asian Cup.
FIFA had announced that Qatar will host five editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup from 2025 to 2029, with the participation of 48 team for the first time in its history.
Qatar has an integrated sport infrastructure with a modern transportation network to smoothly facilitate the arrival of fans and attendance of matches, enabling fans to attend more than one match per day.
The FIFA Council met in advance of the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok and adopted several key decisions, particularly in relation to the future of women’s football, for which the international match calendar was unanimously approved.
Additionally, following the FIFA Council’s decision in December 2022 to approve the strategic principle of introducing a FIFA Women’s Club World Cup and subsequent extensive consultation with the confederations and other stakeholders, it was proposed that the inaugural edition of the competition be contested by 16 teams in January-February 2026. The tournament will be held every four years. Further details will follow in due course.
To facilitate the continued global development of women’s clubs and based on requests from the confederations to provide ample playing opportunities on a yearly basis, it was further proposed that an additional FIFA women’s club competition be organised in non-FIFA Women’s Club World Cup years as from 2027.
In relation to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, in line with the voting procedure approved by the FIFA Council on 14 March 2024, it was confirmed that the joint bid by the Royal Belgian Football Association, the Royal Netherlands Football Association and the German Football Association, as well as the single bid by the Brazilian Football Association, have been submitted to the 74th FIFA Congress for a final decision.
The FIFA Council also
confirmed the following
tournament updates:
FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup 2025: The first edition of the event will take place in the Philippines.
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025-2029: The slot allocation will be as follows: AFC: 4; CAF: 5; Concacaf: 4; CONMEBOL: 4; OFC: 2; UEFA: 5
FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025-2029: The slot allocation was confirmed as follows: AFC: 9; CAF: 10; Concacaf: 8; CONMEBOL: 7; OFC: 3; UEFA 11
FIFA Arab Cup: At the request of the Qatar Football Association, Qatar will host the tournament in 2025, 2029 and 2033, which will follow the principle of an invitational competition not
included in the International Match Calendar.