Rwanda has been selected by FIFA to host one of the pilot editions of the men’s FIFA Series in March 2026, with all matches taking place at the newly renovated Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino confirms in an IG post:
The FIFA Series is a new international friendly match programme launched by FIFA in 2024 to increase meaningful competitive opportunities for all 211 member associations.
Each edition brings together four national teams from different confederations, for example one from Africa, one from Asia, one from CONCACAF and one from South America, Europe or Oceania.
Over the March or June international window the four teams play a short tournament of two semi-finals followed by a final and third-place match, producing four matches in five or six days.
The main purpose is to enable countries that rarely or never meet due to geography, cost or ranking differences to face opposition from other continents. Unlike ordinary friendlies, FIFA organises the events centrally and covers travel and accommodation costs for the visiting teams, making participation feasible for smaller associations.
Rwanda will automatically take part as host nation, while the other three invited teams will each represent a different confederation. The participating teams have not yet been announced as of November 2025.
This will be the first time Rwanda hosts a FIFA-organised senior men’s international tournament of this scale. It highlights the country’s upgraded infrastructure following the completion of the Amahoro Stadium renovation, which increased capacity to 45,000 and saw the venue reopened in July 2024.
The stadium has already hosted 2025 AFCON qualifiers and part of CHAN 2024. The event will give the Amavubi valuable experience against unfamiliar opponents and further strengthen Rwanda’s growing reputation as a regional sports hub, after previously staging events such as Basketball Africa League seasons and the 2025 UCI Road World Championships.
Earlier pilot editions between 2024 and 2025 were hosted by Algeria, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia (twice), Sri Lanka, Egypt, Croatia, New Zealand and Tanzania. The Rwanda 2026 edition is among the first in an expanded phase, with FIFA intending to stage more editions each year.
FIFA officially confirmed Rwanda as host on 20 November 2025. The invited teams and detailed match schedule are expected to be revealed in early 2026.