The FIFA Council met ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada, a Host City for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, 44 days before the kick-off of the tournament.
Given the commercial success of FIFA’s flagship men’s tournament, the FIFA Council agreed to increase the resources to be distributed to all 48 participating teams by a further 15%, totalling USD 871 million. The increased pot will be broken down as follows:
- Preparation money: increase from USD 1.5 million to USD 2.5 million
- Qualification money: increase from USD 9 million to USD 10 million
- Additional team contributions: subsidies for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations totalling over USD 16 million
The balance of revenues will continue to be redistributed back into global football for the benefit of and through all of FIFA’s 211 Member Associations.
“FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our Member Associations in an unprecedented way. This is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game,” stated President Infantino.
Afghan Women’s Refugee Team to compete in FIFA competitions
Building on the creation of the Afghan Women’s Refugee Team and their subsequent debut during the FIFA Unites – Women’s Series 2025, the FIFA Council agreed to amend the FIFA Governance Regulations to allow for the participation of the team in official FIFA competitions.
“We are proud of the beautiful journey initiated by Afghan Women United, and with this initiative we aim to enable them, as well as other FIFA Member Associations that may not be able to register a national or representative team for a FIFA competition, to make the next step, in coordination with the relevant confederation,” commented President Infantino.
Adjustments to yellow-card reset at FIFA World Cup 2026
Reflective of the expanded format with an extra knockout round, the FIFA Council confirmed an amendment to the Regulations for the FIFA World Cup 2026 whereby single yellow cards in the final competition will be cancelled after the group stage and then again after the quarter-finals.
Application of law changes in FIFA World Cup 2026 approved
The FIFA Council approved the application in the FIFA World Cup 2026 of the two Law changes related to players leaving the field of play in direct protest at a referee’s decision, and players covering their mouths when speaking to opponents in situations of confrontation, as set out by The IFAB Special Meeting.
Other matters
The FIFA Council appointed Armenia and Georgia as the hosts of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029™. In addition, the FIFA Council also confirmed the appointment of the United States, and specifically Miami, to host the final phase of the 2027 edition of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™, which is due to take place from 27 to 31 January next year. The corresponding FIFA Women’s Champions Cup competition regulations were also approved. It was also confirmed that the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2026™, due to be staged in Qatar, will take place from 19 November to 13 December this year.
The following competition dates were included in the Men’s International Match Calendar: AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 from 7 January to 5 February 2027; Concacaf Gold Cup 2027 from 19 June to 11 July 2027; CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2027 from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
As per the FIFA Statutes and applicable regulations, it was confirmed that the FIFA presidential election for the 2027-2031 term of office will take place at the 77th FIFA Congress, to be held in 2027, with the electoral period starting on 30 April 2026.
The FIFA Council also unanimously approved a consultation process with all relevant stakeholders for a regulatory obligation that senior club teams are obliged to always have at least one homegrown player from the U-20 or U-21 category on the field of play, and for the proposal to be submitted to the FIFA Council in the next year.
