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FIFA

Map of FIFA members by confederation
Founded	May 21, 1904; 121 years ago (1904-05-21)
Founder	Robert Guérin
Founded at	Paris, France
Type	International sports federation
Headquarters	Global office: Zurich, Switzerland Continental offices: Rabat, Morocco (CAF) Jakarta, Indonesia (AFC)
Membership	211 national associations
President	Gianni Infantino
Senior vice-president	Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa (AFC)
Vice-presidents	Alejandro Domínguez (CONMEBOL) Aleksander Čeferin (UEFA) Lambert Maltock (OFC) Patrice Motsepe (CAF) Victor Montagliani (CONCACAF) Sándor Csányi (UEFA) Debbie Hewitt (UEFA)
Secretary general	Mattias Grafström
Main organ	FIFA Congress
Subsidiaries	AFC (Asia and Australia) CAF (Africa) CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) CONMEBOL (South America) OFC (Oceania) UEFA (Europe)
Affiliations	International Olympic Committee International Football Association Board
Staff	700+

FIFA, which stands for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (meaning "International Federation of Association Football"), is the main organization that runs association football (soccer), beach soccer, and futsal around the world. It was started on May 21, 1904, to manage international games between national football groups.

When it began, FIFA included countries like Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Today, FIFA's main office is in Zurich, Switzerland, and it has 211 national football groups as members. These groups also belong to one of six regional confederations, like CAF for Africa or UEFA for Europe.

FIFA's main goals are to help football grow globally, make sure everyone can play, and promote fair play. It organizes big international tournaments, such as the Men's World Cup (which started in 1930) and the Women's World Cup (which began in 1991). FIFA also helps apply the rules of the game across all its competitions. These tournaments earn a lot of money from sponsors, which helps FIFA support football worldwide.

Over the years, there have been concerns about how FIFA has been run, especially regarding decisions about where the World Cup should be held. These concerns led to investigations and changes within the organization. Many officials were suspended, and new leaders were brought in to improve how FIFA operates.

History of FIFA

The idea for a single organization to manage football became very clear in the early 1900s as international games became more popular. FIFA was officially founded in Paris, France, on May 21, 1904. The name "FIFA" and its French abbreviation are used all over the world.

The first president of FIFA was Robert Guérin. He was followed by Daniel Burley Woolfall from England in 1906. The first tournament FIFA organized was the football competition at the 1908 Olympics in London. This event was very successful.

FIFA grew quickly, adding members from outside Europe like South Africa in 1909, Argentina in 1912, Canada and Chile in 1913, and the United States in 1914.

During World War I, it was hard for FIFA to keep going because many players were fighting in the war. However, it survived thanks to people like Carl Hirschmann. The first ever FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

FIFA's Identity

FIFA Flag

Fédération internationale de football association


Use	Sport
Proportion	3:5
Adopted	2018; 7 years ago (2018)
Design	Blue field with a FIFA logo

FIFA has its own flag, which is blue with the organization's logo in the middle. The current FIFA flag was first seen during the opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, Russia.

FIFA Anthem

Just like the UEFA Champions League, FIFA has an official anthem. It was composed by German musician Franz Lambert and has been used since the 1994 FIFA World Cup. This anthem is played at the start of all official FIFA matches and tournaments. This includes the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup, and many youth and club tournaments.

Since 2007, FIFA has also asked TV channels broadcasting its events to use parts of the anthem at the beginning and end of their coverage. This helps promote FIFA's sponsors.

Presidents of FIFA

Here is a list of the people who have led FIFA since it was founded:

No	Name	Country	Took office	Left office	Note
1	Robert Guérin	France	23 May 1904	4 June 1906
2	Daniel Burley Woolfall	England	4 June 1906	24 October 1918	Died in office
—	Cornelis August Wilhelm Hirschman	Netherlands	24 October 1918	1920	Acting
3	Jules Rimet	France	1 March 1921	21 June 1954
4	Rodolphe Seeldrayers	Belgium	21 June 1954	7 October 1955	Died in office
5	Arthur Drewry	England	9 June 1956	25 March 1961	Died in office
—	Ernst Thommen	Switzerland	25 March 1961	28 September 1961	Acting
6	Stanley Rous	England	28 September 1961	8 May 1974
7	João Havelange	Brazil	8 May 1974	8 June 1998
8	Sepp Blatter	Switzerland	8 June 1998	8 October 2015	Expelled
—	Issa Hayatou	Cameroon	8 October 2015	26 February 2016	Acting
9	Gianni Infantino	Italy Switzerland	26 February 2016	Incumbent

How FIFA is Organized

Six Confederations and 211 National Associations

FIFA works with six main confederations that manage football in different parts of the world. These are:

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for Asia
Confederation of African Football (CAF) for Africa
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football for North, Central America, and the Caribbean
Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol for South America
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for Oceania
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for Europe

Each national football association must be a member of one of these confederations to be part of FIFA. FIFA has 211 national associations, which is more than the number of countries in the United Nations. This is because FIFA also includes associations from some non-independent areas, like the four parts of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).

FIFA can suspend countries from competitions if their government tries to interfere with how their football association is run. For example, Russia was suspended from all competitions in February 2022 due to the conflict in Ukraine.

FIFA also updates the FIFA Men's World Rankings every month and the FIFA Women's World Rankings every three months. These rankings show how well each team is doing in international games.

Rules and Leadership

FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland

FIFA's main office is in Zürich, Switzerland. The highest decision-making body in FIFA is the FIFA Congress. This is a meeting where representatives from every member association gather. Each association gets one vote, no matter how big or small it is. The Congress meets once a year to make important decisions about FIFA's rules and how they are put into action. Only the Congress can change FIFA's main rules. It also approves reports and elects the President of FIFA and other leaders.

The FIFA Council, which used to be called the FIFA Executive Committee, is the main group that makes strategic decisions between Congress meetings. It has 37 members, including the President, 8 vice-presidents, and 28 members from the different confederations. The Council helps decide which countries will host the World Cup.

The President and the Secretary General are in charge of FIFA's daily operations. Gianni Infantino is the current president, elected in February 2016.

FIFA also has other groups, like the FIFA Ethics Committee, which deals with fair play and conduct, and the Disciplinary Committee.

The rules of football, known as the Laws of the Game, are not set only by FIFA. They are managed by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). FIFA has four representatives on this board, and the other four come from the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Changes to the Laws of the Game need at least six votes from the delegates.

Video Replay and Goal-Line Technology

For a long time, FIFA was against using video replays to help referees. However, this changed over time. In July 2012, FIFA approved the use of goal-line technology. This technology helps determine if the ball has fully crossed the goal line, preventing situations like the one in the 2010 FIFA World Cup where a clear goal was missed.

Later, in March 2018, the IFAB permanently added video assistant referees (VARs) to the Laws of the Game. VARs allow officials to review plays using video to help make correct decisions, though their use is optional for competitions.

Concerns and Reforms

There have been many concerns about how FIFA has been run, especially regarding the bidding process for hosting the World Cup. These concerns led to investigations and calls for major changes within the organization.

For example, there were allegations about the selection of Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. These allegations led to many discussions and demands for more transparency. Several FIFA officials were suspended or banned from football activities as a result of these investigations.

In February 2022, FIFA suspended Russia from all competitions due to the conflict in Ukraine. This showed that FIFA can take strong action when it believes there are serious issues. FIFA also has rules against governments interfering with national football associations.

In October 2024, some players raised concerns that FIFA had not paid them agreed amounts of money. Also in October 2024, over 100 female footballers asked FIFA to end a sponsorship deal with a Saudi oil company due to human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia.

FIFA has stated its commitment to improving its governance and becoming more transparent.

Awards and Recognition

FIFA hosts an annual awards ceremony called The Best FIFA Football Awards. This event, started in 2016, celebrates the best players and teams in international football. Key awards include The Best FIFA Men's Player and The Best FIFA Women's Player.

Other important awards include the FIFA Puskás Award for the most beautiful goal of the year, and the Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper at each World Cup. In 2000, FIFA also named the FIFA Club of the Century (Real Madrid) and the FIFA Player of the Century (shared by Diego Maradona and Pelé).

FIFA Variants

FIFA oversees different types of football:

Association football: Recognized since 1904 (men) and 1988 (women).
Futsal: Recognized since 1986 (men) and 2023 (women).
Esports: Recognized since 2004.
Beach soccer: Recognized since 2005 (men) and 2019 (women).

Tournaments Organized by FIFA

FIFA organizes many exciting tournaments for national teams and clubs around the world.

National Teams

Men's Tournaments

FIFA World Cup
FIFA U-20 World Cup (for players under 20)
FIFA U-17 World Cup (for players under 17)
FIFA Futsal World Cup
Men's Youth Olympic Futsal Tournament (U-18)
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
FIFA Arab Cup (for senior teams from the Arab world)
FIFA Series (friendly matches)

Women's Tournaments

FIFA Women's World Cup
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup (for players under 20)
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup (for players under 17)
FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup
Women's Youth Olympic Futsal Tournament (U-18)

Club Teams

Men's Club Tournaments

Women's Club Tournaments

FIFA Women's Club World Cup
FIFA Women's Champions Cup
Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup

eSports Tournaments

FIFAe World Cup (individual)
FIFAe Club World Cup (team)
FIFAe Nations Cup (national teams)
FIFAe Continental Cup

Former Tournaments

FIFA Confederations Cup
FIFA World Champions' Gold Cup
FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament

The hosts of all Senior Association Football FIFA World Cups, including both men's and women's, as of 2014

Current Champions

Here are the current champions of some major FIFA competitions:

National Teams (Men's)
Competition	Year	Champions	Details	Runners-up	Next
FIFA World Cup	2022	Argentina	Final	France	2026
Men's Olympic Football Tournament (U-23)	2024	Spain	Final	France	2028
FIFA U-20 World Cup	2023	Uruguay	Final	Italy	2025
FIFA U-17 World Cup	2023	Germany	Final	France	2025
FIFA Futsal World Cup	2024	Brazil	Final	Argentina	2028
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup	2025	Brazil	Final	Belarus	2027
FIFA Arab Cup	2021	Algeria	Final	Tunisia	2025
National Teams (Women's)
FIFA Women's World Cup	2023	Spain	Final	England	2027
Women's Olympic Football Tournament	2024	United States	Final	Brazil	2028
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup	2024	North Korea	Final	Japan	2026
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup	2024	North Korea	Final	Spain	2025
Club Teams (Men's)
FIFA Club World Cup	2025	Chelsea	Final	Paris Saint-Germain	2029
FIFA Intercontinental Cup	2024	Real Madrid	Final	Pachuca	2025

FIFA World Rankings

Men's Rankings

The table below shows the top 20 men's football countries in the world.

FIFA World Rankings as of 7 February 2019.
Rank	Team	Points
Top 20 rankings as of August 2025
1	Belgium	1727
2	France	1726
3	Brazil	1676
4	Croatia	1634
5	England	1631
6	Portugal	1614
7	Uruguay	1609
8	Switzerland	1599
9	Spain	1591
10	Denmark	1589
11	Argentina	1582
12	Colombia	1575
13	Chile	1565
14	Sweden	1560
14	Netherlands	1560
16	Germany	1558
17	Mexico	1540
18	Italy	1539
19	Wales	1525
20	Poland	1518
20	Peru	1518
*Change from July 2025
Complete rankings at FIFA.com

Women's Rankings

The table below shows the top 20 women's football countries in the world.

FIFA Women's World Rankings as of 7 December 2018.
Rank	Change	Team	Points
Top 20 rankings as of August 2025
1		United States	2123
2		Germany	2057
3	1	France	2046
4	1	England	2021
5		Canada	2006
6		Australia	1999
7	3	Netherlands	1987
8	1	Japan	1984
9		Sweden	1976
10	2	Brazil	1964
11		North Korea	1938
12		Spain	1920
13		Norway	1902
14		South Korea	1880
15		China	1871
16	1	Italy	1859
17	1	Denmark	1842
18		Switzerland	1832
19	1	New Zealand	1819
20	1	Scotland	1810
*Change from July 2025
Complete rankings at FIFA.com

FIFA Sponsors

FIFA works with several global partners who help support its events and activities. These include:

FIFA+ Streaming Service

FIFA+

Type of site	OTT streaming platform
Available in	English
Headquarters	Paris , France
Country of origin	France
Area served	France
Owner	FIFA
Registration	Required
Launched	2022
Current status	Active

In April 2022, FIFA launched FIFA+, an online streaming service. This platform offers many live matches each year, including thousands of women's games. FIFA+ also has a huge collection of past World Cup matches and original documentaries.

FIFA+ broadcasts all matches from youth World Cups for both boys and girls. It also showed the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup live in some regions. The service also has rights to competitions in Oceania and New Zealand's domestic football.