The FIFA Council met five times in 2023, with a wide range of key decisions taken or ratified – including the new International Match Calendars for men’s football (2025-2030) and women’s football (2024-2025) and the hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2030™ and FIFA World Cup 2034™.
№ 22: 14 February 2023 . Held by videoconference
Agenda available here:
The first FIFA Council meeting in 2023 was held by videoconference to reduce expenses and minimise travel. The Annual Report was approved and important decisions were taken with respect to FIFA competitions.
Key points from the FIFA Council meeting:
The Annual Report for 2022 was approved. This highlighted FIFA’s record-breaking revenue of USD 7.6 billion during the 2019- 2022 cycle and budgeted revenue of USD 11 billion for the 2023- 2026 period.
Saudi Arabia was appointed as the host nation for the FIFA Club World Cup 2023™ to be staged from 12 to 22 December 2023.
The slot allocation for the Mundial de Clubes 2025, the first to feature 32 teams, was decided as follows: AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 CONMEBOL: 6 OFC: 1 UEFA: 12 Tournament host country: 1
The FIFA Council confirmed that, as hosts of the FIFA World Cup 26™, Canada, Mexico and the United States would qualify automatically, with these slots being deducted from the 6.66 places allocated to Concacaf.
№ 23: 14 March 2023 . Kigali, Rwanda
Agenda available here:
The second FIFA Council of 2023 took place in Kigali, Rwanda, two days before the 73rd FIFA Congress, and approved the new International Match Calendars (IMCs) for men’s and women’s football.
Key points from the FIFA Council meeting:
The new men’s IMC for 2025-2030 was approved, including the decision to merge the September and October windows.
Based on the new men’s IMC, the FIFA Council confirmed that the final of the FIFA World Cup 26 would take place on 19 July 2026.
The women’s IMC for 2024-2025 was also approved.
The competition format for the FIFA World Cup 26 was confirmed, with 12 groups of four in the first round.
The key principles of access for the Mundial de Clubes 2025 were approved.
The FIFA Council approved the concept of an annual FIFA club competition starting from 2024.
Further amendments to the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players were approved as part of the third package of the transfer reform process.
№ 24: 23 June 2023 . Held by videoconference
Agenda available here:
The third FIFA Council meeting in 2023 was held by videoconference and awarded hosting rights for the expanded FIFA Club World Cup™ in 2025 as well as other FIFA tournaments.
Key points from the FIFA Council meeting:
The United States was appointed as the host nation for the first edition of the new version of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, featuring 32 teams.
The Regulations for the FIFA World Cup 26 Preliminary Competition were approved.
The FIFA Council also appointed Indonesia to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023™, Colombia to host the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2024™, the Dominican Republic to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024™ and Uzbekistan to host the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024™.
№ 25: 4 October 2023 . Held by videoconference
Agenda available here:
Following extensive consultation with all confederations, the FIFA Council took key decisions on the bidding process and hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034.
Key points from the FIFA Council meeting:
The FIFA Council unanimously agreed that the sole candidacy for the FIFA World Cup 2030 would be the combined bid of Morocco, Portugal and Spain, subject to a successful bidding process and decision by the FIFA Congress in 2024.
In addition, considering the historical context of the tournament, the FIFA Council unanimously agreed to host a unique centenary celebration ceremony in Montevideo, Uruguay, where the first-ever FIFA World Cup took place in 1930. It also decided that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay would each host one match in the 2030 tournament.
It was also agreed that, in line with the principle of confederation rotation, the FIFA Member Associations from the territories of the AFC and OFC would be invited to bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034.
The FIFA Council confirmed that the inaugural edition of the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™ would take place in 2025 as a stand-alone tournament with 16 participating teams.
№ 26: 17 December 2023. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Agenda available here:
The final meeting of 2023 took further decisions on the first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup™ and awarded hosting rights for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025™ and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026™.
Key points from the FIFA Council meeting:
Chile was unanimously appointed to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025 and Poland to host the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026.
The slot allocation for both competitions remained unchanged from previous editions: AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 CONMEBOL: 4 OFC: 2 UEFA: 5 Tournament host country: 1
A governing framework was approved for a training compensation system for women’s football as part of ongoing efforts to professionalise the women’s game.
The FIFA Council also took key decisions in relation to the first 32-team Mundial de Clubes 2025, which will be played in the United States in 2025. These include the ranking methodology, which will be used as one of the key principles of access.