FIFA announce another new international tournament that nobody asked for

The football never stops

It is impossible to keep track of all the football, but your best chance is here. 

Thousands and thousands of hours of football, each more climactic than the last.

Constant, dizzying, 24 hour, year long, endless football.

Yes that first bit might be an excerpt of the famous Mitchell and Webb Look sketch about football never stopping, but that is also seemingly FIFA’s attitude towards the beautiful game too.

The world football governing body have announced a brand-new international tournament that will begin at the end of March.

More football.

Announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the FIFA Series will see 20 teams split into five groups of four to play friendlies.

All games in each group will take place in one location, with Saudi Arabia hosting two groups and Algeria, Azerbaijan and Sri Lanka hosting one each.

Countries from the various continental footballing federations will compete in this and Infantino believes this is a “positive step forward for national-team football at global level.”

He added: “Our member associations have been telling us for a long time now of their desire to test themselves against their counterparts from all around the world. And now they can do so within the current Men’s International Match Calendar.

“More meaningful matches will enable far more valuable footballing interaction for players, teams and fans, and will make a concrete contribution to the development of the game.”

Who will compete in the FIFA series?

Nations such as Andorra and Algeria will be a part of the competition while Pacific island Vanuatu – who are ranked 170th in the world – will also take party in the inaugural event.

The full groups are:

FIFA Series Algeria: Algeria, South Africa, Bolivia, Andorra.

FIFA Series Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Tanzania.

FIFA Series Saudi Arabia A: Cape Verde, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana.

FIFA Series Saudi Arabia B: Bermuda, Brunei, Guinea, Vanuatu.

FIFA Series Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Bhutan, Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea.