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The biggest news coming out of the FIFA Congress in Bangkok today was the awarding of tournaments to several geographies.
In Asia, we learned that the next editions Women’s Asian Cup will be held in Australia in 2026 and Uzbekistan in 2029. While the Philippines will host the Women’s Futsal World Cup next year.
FIFA has also decided to award Qatar a glut of tournaments. The host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will host five consecutive editions of the U17 Men’s World Cup from 2025 until 2029. Morocco will host the Women’s edition of the tournament during the same time frame.
Qatar has also capitalized on the world class stadiums and infrastructure at its disposal by convincing FIFA to support its hosting of the next three editions of the FIFA Arab Cup. In doing so, Qatar has secured a World Cup legacy for itself one that many critics thought was unlikely.
The middling Arab Cup tournament was resuscitated from a decade long slumber in 2021 as a way for Qatar to test its infrastructure ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Now Qatar will ensure the tournament is held with regular cadence for the first time since four editions were held between 1988 and 2002.
Additional details were not provided. FIFA stated that the tournament would be on a invitational basis and would not be included in the official competition calendar. For the 2021 edition, a playoff qualifying round was used to cull the field of 22 teams to 16.
The next edition is expected to be held in December 2025.
