The FIFA Series Is The Soccer Competition We Didn’t Know We Needed

The past week of international soccer saw Georgia qualify for the country’s first European Championship. Brazil star Vinicius Jr described the impact of racist abuse. Ukraine reached the Euro 2024 finals against the odds.

With so much happening, it was easy to miss Sri Lanka vs. Bhutan.

Sri Lanka, best known in a sporting sense for its cricket team, has a men’s soccer side ranked 204^th in the world. On Monday, it beat Bhutan (ranked 184^th) to secure a first victory for two-and-a-half years.

The significance of the 2-0 scoreline in front of a home crowd could be seen in the celebrations at the final whistle. One local media outlet described it as a “famous win”. Another declared it Sri Lankan soccer’s “finest moment”.

Meanwhile, in a match played in Saudi Arabia, there was a big result for Brunei. The nation ranked 194^th bounced back from defeat to Bermuda (171^st) in an earlier match, to beat Vanuatu (170^th) in a 3-2 thriller. It was a first win for Brunei since November 2022, a run which included a 10-0 loss to Hong Kong.

Playing in Algeria, Andorra (164^th) drew with South Africa (58^th). And in Azerbaijan, Tanzania beat Mongolia, 3-0.

The friendly matches, between a seemingly random group of 24 nations hosted in five countries, were the pilot phase of the FIFA Series.

The idea from soccer’s world governing body was for teams from different confederations which do not normally play each other to have the opportunity to meet.

The participants included successful soccer nations. The mini-tournament in Egypt featured the host nation, seven-time winner of the Africa Cup of Nations, Croatia (World Cup finalists in 2018), New Zealand and Tunisia.

But the project was clearly appealing to smaller nations. Those without qualifying matches that had a free schedule and rarely have the chance to play nations on a similar level.

Papua New Guinea drew 0-0 with Sri Lanka before a 4-0 defeat to Central African Republic. The team’s coach, Warren Moon, said the series was a “brilliant initiative”.

“I know it’s a pilot, it’s the first time it’s happened, but I can only see this being a positive, especially for countries like PNG,” he said, as reported by The National.

“We hope it’s not the last time that FIFA invites us, because I think something like this can really benefit Papua New Guinea.”

The FIFA Series could be seen as the latest example of governing bodies increasing the amount of soccer being played. FIFA says future editions will take place every March international match window of even years.

In the past few years, FIFA has campaigned for the World Cup to be held every two years instead of every four. The next World Cup, in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 2026, will be the first with 48 teams, up from 32. And the first expanded Club World Cup will take place in the U.S. next summer.

UEFA, which governs European soccer, also has growth on its mind. In 2016, the European Championship was contested by 24 teams, up from 16. The Nations League was introduced in 2018.

Some players have questioned the additional games and strain on their bodies. Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne described the Nations League as “just an added tournament”.

“Where I saw the games, they were not really interesting, a lot of second teams played, a lot of different players. It's basically a friendly but with more TV rights or whatever,” he told me in a 2022 interview.

It is tempting to dismiss any new tournament or set of matches as greed. But new competitions can give teams the opportunity to test themselves against unfamiliar opponents. To learn and improve. This can be particularly useful for countries without a rich soccer culture, which are accustomed to few matches and, when they do play, heavy defeats.

While many smaller countries dream of one day playing at a World Cup finals, it is hard to see them all fulfilling it. Fewer than half of FIFA’s 211 affiliated associations has played at a World Cup.

So the FIFA Series, at least in this pilot, seems to have been a useful exercise. Soccer is not only about the best and biggest teams. The friendlies between Spain and Brazil or England and Belgium will have attracted more global attention than Algeria vs. Bolivia. But the Algerian and Bolivian players and coaches may have learnt more from the experience.

Sri Lanka’s goals against Bhutan came from Dillon de Silva and Oliver Kelaart. De Silva plays in the fifth tier of English soccer and Kelaart plies his trade in Iceland’s second division. They are not household names in international soccer. But everyone who was at the Racecourse Stadium in Colombo will remember their goals.