World Cup qualifiers Australia and Uzbekistan will host FIFA-supported intercontinental friendly tournaments in March as part of their preparation for the 2026 World Cup, FIFA announced Friday.
The «FIFA Series,» launched two years ago to give developing national teams more opportunities to face opponents from other continents, will expand next year to include women’s events in Brazil, Ivory Coast and Thailand — ahead of Brazil hosting the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Australia and debutant Uzbekistan are among 42 teams already qualified for the expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Six more places will be decided in playoffs in March. Uzbekistan, which advanced from Asian qualifying in June, recently appointed 2006 World Cup–winning captain Fabio Cannavaro as head coach.
During the nine-day international window, national teams are free to arrange warm-up matches, often choosing opponents based on their World Cup group-stage rivals. Major football nations like Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Spain typically have no difficulty securing high-quality matches, while the United States is expected to meet Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in March.
Other FIFA Series hosts scheduled for March include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Mauritius, Rwanda and Puerto Rico. The first editions in 2024 were staged in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka, with Croatia winning the top event in Egypt.
