FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said the resounding success of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in Canada, Mexico and the United States has provided new “opportunities that we don’t use today” for investment in the game and states that he aims to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has” to support global football development.

As a non-profit organisation, FIFA invests revenues from its tournaments and events into growing the game across its 211 FIFA Member Associations (MA) with the FIFA World Cup™ the largest contributor.

Referring to the anticipated revenues generated by the tournament as part of the entire 2023-2026 cycle, the FIFA President said, “I think we can top the USD 15 billion mark”, thus providing football’s world governing body with unprecedented resources to put at the disposal of its MAs.

“I think I can say that this FIFA World Cup here in particular has opened a lot of doors, a lot of opportunities, a lot of possibilities,” he told MA representatives at a meeting in New York, USA, on the eve of the FIFA World Cup 2026 final. “This will have an impact on what we can do all over the world, but the revenues and the financial economic success come only if the sporting side is right. If we do the right thing from a sporting point of view.

“So, when we see the success of this FIFA World Cup, we need to really be aware of the fact that the FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of football in the world, and that everyone in football, big or small, depends on the success of the FIFA World Cup. We need to be very, very careful, and put the FIFA World Cup always at the centre of everything we do in football. Everything else has to come after that and with that together.

“When we will speak about calendars, about when (and) how to organise events, we need to care about all of you. FIFA is a democracy. The members have to decide, and you will decide what you think is right for the future. There are discussions about whether we should increase more (from 48) to 64 (teams), but this will be debated and this will be discussed.”

FIFA Forward, which underpins MAs’ development projects, has been a major beneficiary of FIFA World Cup revenue. Mr Infantino highlighted the latest increase in funding, which is expected to reach a record USD 2.7 billion for the 2027-2030 cycle. That marks an eight-fold increase compared to the initiative’s launch ten years ago, and means that during Mr Infantino’s tenure, FIFA has invested USD 5.1 billion into global football development across its MAs.

Referencing the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil, the revised youth tournaments at Under-20 and Under-17 level, and the launch of the new FIFA Under-15 World Cup & Festival™, the FIFA President stressed the need to generate revenue to help the many countries where investment has been a challenge to date.

“We want to generate more revenues, and we have to generate more revenues, because in the vast majority of the world, in 80% of the world, if we don’t invest, if we don’t believe...nobody will,” he said. “(If not), the concentration will always go to a few, big (countries), and we will remain as we are.”

Mr Infantino thanked the “more than 200” MAs who have already pledged their support after his announcement of his intention to stand for re-election in 2027 at the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada in late April 2026. He noted that it would give him even more opportunity to support them as they plot how best to grow the game in their own backyard.

“I can focus together with you on building a future for football in every country in the world that chooses to do so, because it will be your individual decision,” he said. “Nobody will tell you what you have to do with the possibilities that you will be given by FIFA. You will decide. And we want you to grow the game in your country because then you will be successful as well at the continental and at the global stage.

“So, we will continue to work together to really unleash this whole commercial potential that we have to make football even better, to make football even bigger, to make football even more global all over the world. And you can count on me for that.”