Goal 5. Focus on Player, Coach and Referee development and FIFA Academies
2026 update
In order to support MAs in reaching their full potential, the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) moved to its implementation phase in 2023 after being well received by the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
Looking to ensure that young talents have the best possible chance to exploit their full potential, the scheme aims to create a sustainable legacy for long-term development and exceeded its target of 150 MAs signed up to it in the first calendar year with over 190 MAs having joined by the end of 2025
FIFA committed to USD 200 million of funding for the programme at the FIFA Football Summit on the opening day of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ with a cornerstone of the TDS being to establish an elite FIFA Talent Academy in each of FIFA’s 211 MAs. Significant progress has been made towards this ultimate goal: 33 FIFA Talent Academies had been launched worldwide by FIFA Congress 2025 with 51 operational by early February 2026. Since the first milestone event at the FIFA Talent Academy in Bahrain to mark the facility’s success in January 2025, milestone celebrations have been held at FIFA Talent Academies in each of the six confederations as the TDS continues to advance at speed. The goal is to establish at least 100 FIFA Talent Academies by the end of President Infantino’s current term in 2027.
Despite FIFA providing significant initial momentum to implement the TDS, the focus is on establishing a local framework that will serve the individual MA for generations. Regular onboarding workshops at the Home of FIFA ensure a uniform coaching methodology and philosophy that FIFA Talent Coaches apply across the FIFA Talent Academies as they collaborate with local stakeholders to form and develop a robust and high-quality domestic coaching network.
The training of referees received a boost in October 2024 when Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, the only female referee to oversee the final of both a FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Olympic Football Tournament, was appointed as FIFA’s Head of Women’s Refereeing with a vision to inspire greater participation. Regular capacity-building and knowledge-sharing workshops have been held – for example, 40 referees from across the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations region participated in a first VAR workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, in February 2025, while the Oceania Football Confederation/FIFA Elite Refereeing Seminar took place in Honiara, Solomon Islands, in April 2025 – as FIFA seeks to further improve officiating standards globally.
Previously, all 211 MAs received an inspirational address from Szymon Marciniak and Tori Penso as the final referees of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ respectively joined FIFA Referees Committee Chairperson Pierluigi Collina to share their experiences at the FIFA Football Summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in December 2023.
Head coaches from the last two senior FIFA tournaments also convened in two separate forums to reflect on competition and refereeing matters to give their feedback to FIFA and bring key learnings for future events. An interview with Argentina’s FIFA World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni was among the highlights of the men’s event in Doha, which also included technical directors from participating MAs. A similar forum, held in Zurich in January 2024, reflected on the record-breaking edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ of the previous year with the Technical Study Group leading a discussion regarding trends, findings and technical observations.
Additionally, a commitment to grassroots football worldwide was also shared by FIFA’s employees in 2024 with over 200 staff members volunteering their time with clubs to spread the magic of football at local level through the Pass it on programme.
FIFA is establishing talent development pathways that will lead to more equal opportunities across all 211 FIFA MAs to foster a steady stream of talented players in men’s and women’s football together with coaches and referees. These pathways are intended to increase competitiveness, reduce disparity between different regions across the world in the long term, and help ensure there are at least 50 clubs and 50 national teams – both in men’s and women’s football – from across the continents that regularly compete at the highest level.
Goal 5 overview
FIFA is establishing talent development pathways that will lead to more equal opportunities across all 211 FIFA member associations to foster a steady stream of talented players in men’s and women’s football together with coaches and referees. These pathways are intended to increase competitiveness, reduce disparity between different regions across the world in the long term, and help ensure that there are at least 50 clubs and 50 national teams – both in men’s and women’s football – from across the continents that regularly compete at the highest level.