FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States

I was delighted to attend the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles and speak about how women's football has led the way in growing the sport in the United States, with the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States an unprecedented opportunity to grow the game still further in North America. The United States has invested a lot in the women's game through the high school and collegiate systems, which is very unique. As well as speaking of the impact that hosting the FIFA World Cup can have, I also spoke of the investment needed for soccer in general to attract the best players across the world – and to help provide a pathway for local talent to develop and grow. This is one of the reasons FIFA is here and – through the FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States as well as the new FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 – we want to show the next generation of soccer players here that there is a path in football to glory and global stardom.

🚨 FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Invitation for Expressions of Interest 🚨   FIFA is looking for interested and experienced companies to help deliver temporary infrastructure at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ (FWC2026). FWC2026's Stadium & Infrastructure Team has engaged BaAM Productions to procure and deliver temporary infrastructure at the tournament’s 16 stadiums. The selected suppliers will join BaAM as they endeavor to deliver a historic FWC2026.   If you think your organization can help deliver temporary infrastructure in the 16 host cities, please click on the link below to register your interest!   👉 https://lnkd.in/gPbqG72E

Sharing knowledge on diversity and anti-discrimination in the United States 🤝 Earlier this week Senior Diversity & Anti-Discrimination Manager Gerd Dembowski represented FIFA as the keynote speaker at the Diversity and Anti-Discrimination conference at the William Paterson University of New Jersey. He used the opportunity to provide an in-depth explanation of FIFA's No Discrimination campaign – and gave delegates an overview of a wide range of human rights and anti-discrimination-related topics, initiatives and campaigns implemented by FIFA – explaining how football and the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States can act as a vehicle for advancing social change, and social justice. The event, which was co-sponsored by New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce, brought together representatives from FIFA, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls and NJ/NY Gotham FC to discuss anti-discrimination efforts in the football world, with a focus on local perspectives ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States. Dembowski said: “I was delighted to attend this meaningful and informative event co-sponsored by the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce, and share my own experiences with the panellists and audience. "At FIFA competitions, our standard anti-discrimination measures in place are robust and provide the support needed to keep the journey of players and fans as inclusive as possible. "The direct exchange with local stakeholders cannot be understated because it ensures us to include local needs and provide transparency for our own approach to fight racism and all other forms of discrimination.” No Discrimination is a campaign designed to raise awareness, share education and prompt action around the world. In support of UN Human Rights, FIFA aims to empower us all to play our part in eradicating discrimination from football. Find out more about FIFA's work in tackling discrimination: https://lnkd.in/egUxWcHv

I am proud to announce a fantastic partnership with a leading academic institution of the United States, Miami Dade College. It’s a partnership which will have, as one of its most important points, an exhibit at the museum of Miami Dade College in Freedom Tower as of 2025 as well as internships for the college’s students at the FIFA World Cup offices and a series of FIFA lecturers and guest speakers giving their insights to support students. Exhibits from the FIFA Museum will tell the story of football and bring visitors to the Freedom Tower exhibition closer to the beautiful game. It will show the history of our sport, which is one of opportunity because, like FIFA, Miami Dade College also promotes the message of unity and hope. I would like to thank Miami Dade College President, Madeline Pumariega, the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, the Mayor of Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, and the whole team for having made this possible. We are here to work together, we are here in Miami and will have great fun on top of it.

Welcome on board, aramco! 🤝 Aramco, one of the world's leading integrated energy and chemical companies, has signed a four-year global partnership with FIFA. The company becomes FIFA's Major Worldwide Partner exclusive in the energy category, with sponsorship rights for multiple events including the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States and 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup™ . FIFA President Gianni Infantino said "We are delighted to welcome Aramco to FIFA’s family of global partners. This partnership will assist FIFA to successfully deliver its flagship tournaments over the next four years and, as is the case with all our commercial agreements, enable us to provide enhanced support to our 211 FIFA member associations across the globe. Aramco has a strong track record of supporting world class events, but also a focus on developing grassroots sport initiatives. We look forward to collaborating with them on a variety of initiatives over the coming years.”

Discussing the next step for football development in the Americas 📈⚽️ Representatives from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL attended a FIFA workshop in Miami this week to discuss how to best benefit from the FIFA Forward programme. Introduced in 2016, the first two phases of the FIFA Forward Programme provided over USD 2 billion to football development projects around the world. The initiative's third phase will see up to USD 8 million made available to each FIFA Member Association, up to USD 60 million to each confederation, and up to USD 5 million for each zonal/regional association to organise and develop football. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who attended the inauguration of a FIFA-funded high-performance training facility in Paraguay last week, told attendees about the benefits of the programme. "The Forward Programme is the way FIFA has to support you when the time comes to shape the footballing ecosystem that you aspire to have," he said. "Many of you have already benefited from it to develop wonderful projects. Do not hesitate at all that FIFA will support you during the tailor-made design of these projects, which will make the most of the funds invested."

FIFA was pleased to host its first FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States Commercial Partners Summit in Miami, USA, last week and welcome over 120 attendees from its leading commercial partners and various FIFA teams who came together to discuss planning and delivery for the biggest sporting tournament ever that’s set to kick-off in a little over two years’ time. Commercial partners in attendance at the summit included adidas, The Coca-Cola Company, Hyundai Motor Group, Qatar Airways, Visa, AB InBev, McDonald's, Unilever and Panini.   FIFA Chief Business Officer, Romy Gai, and FIFA World Cup Chief Operating Officer, Heimo Schirgi kicked off the collaborative discussions on a range of critical areas including brand, digital, commercial operations, logistics, licensing and retail and the FIFA Fan Festival amongst others.   Gai said: "The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be a game-changing tournament for billions of fans, and the commercial partners helping us deliver exciting and innovative programs, products and events for this historic tournament are central to its success. We thank everyone who contributed to a productive three days in Miami and look forward to our collective journey to ensuring 2026 is an unforgettable tournament that breaks new records."

It was our pleasure to host members of the Dansk Boldspil-Union (DBU) at FIFA's offices in Miami this week. DBU President Jesper Møller Christensen, CEO Erik Brøgger Rasmussen and Senior Advisor Torben Hoffeldt dropped by to check in on FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States preparations and to better understand FIFA’s organisational set-up for the tournament with an update provided by Heimo Schirgi, FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer World Cup. Elkhan Mammadov, FIFA Director Member Associations Europe, said: "The doors of FIFA are always open and it's fantastic to be able to show FIFA's Member Associations, such as our colleagues from Denmark, the progress we are making ahead of Canada, Mexico and the United States hosting the biggest-ever FIFA World Cup in 2026. "We wish them the best of luck for their UEFA EURO 2024 campaign in Germany this summer, before their participation in the European qualifying competition for the FIFA World Cup 2026 which is scheduled to kick-off in March 2025."

How is FIFA working to produce the best possible pitches for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States? 🏟 FIFA has partnered with University of Tennessee and Michigan State University to produce the best possible pitches for the game-changing tournament in 2026, which will feature 48 teams for the first time ever. Alan Ferguson, FIFA's Senior Pitch Management Manager, said: "It’s important that we get these pitches playing and looking as identical as we can. Whether it’s a stadium in Canada, in the Midwest US, or down in the mountains of Mexico, we want there to be consistency with what a player feels under his foot. For us, it’s all about the consistency of the playability for the player." Find out more:

FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the opening of the Host City Commercial Summit in Miami as preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States continue. Over the course of the two-day summit, Host City representatives will exchange information with each other and FIFA representatives and take part in sessions on topics such as FIFA partnerships, brand activations, licensing and retail and commercial sales.