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The FIFAe Finals 2026 will be played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from October 16 to 25, FIFA announced in a media release on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. The finals of football's world governing body for national teams in esports will take place at the Abadi Al Johar Arena, the first time the event goes to that city.
Three world titles are at stake: two in eFootball, a football game, played on console and on mobile, and one in Rocket League, the game in which teams of players steer rocket-powered cars to knock a giant ball into a goal. FIFA also introduced a new closing format, the Champions Weekend, where the three world champions will be crowned.
FIFA media release, September 1, 2026.
Ten days at the Abadi Al Johar Arena
FIFA described the event as a landmark in the esports history of Jeddah and as a celebration of football esports, gaming and entertainment spread over two weeks. The competition itself fills ten days, from Friday, October 16, to Sunday, October 25, and it is split into three blocks: eFootball, then Rocket League, then a closing weekend.
The schedule announced by FIFA puts each game on its own days.
| Dates | Competition | Field |
|---|---|---|
| October 16 to 18 | FIFAe World Cup in eFootball, console and mobile | 12 national teams in each |
| October 20 to 21 | FIFAe World Cup in Rocket League | 16 nations |
| October 23 to 25 | Champions Weekend | Three world champions crowned |
FIFA media release, September 1, 2026. FIFA gives the eFootball field as 12 national teams in each of the console and mobile competitions.
The Champions Weekend is the new piece. FIFA calls it a debut format and the closing stage of the finals, the part of the event that will hold the most decisive matches of the year. The three world champions of the year will be crowned there, on the last three days of the event.
The sizes of the fields match the previous edition. For 2025, FIFA had announced 16 national teams in Rocket League and 12 in each of the two eFootball competitions; for 2026, it gives 16 Rocket League nations again and 12 national teams in each eFootball competition.
Related readNational team esports in 2026: four systems, four selection modelsFIFA credited the Saudi Esports Federation with the world-class infrastructure and foundations the event relies on. The release gives no prize money for 2026.
Saudi Arabia again, in a new city
Saudi Arabia is not new to the event. The FIFAe Finals 25, the previous edition, ran from December 10 to 19, 2025 at the SEF Arena in Riyadh, and Riyadh had hosted the finals in the two years before the Jeddah announcement, Sheep Esports recalled in August.
The Saudi arrangement was set more than a year ago. In July 2025, FIFA confirmed the finals for two seasons at once, 2025 and 2026, and named the Saudi Esports Federation, which it called a committed long-term partner, as its partner for the event. Meshal Alqabbani, the federation's products executive director, said in that release that hosting the finals through 2026 showed the federation's commitment to world-class esports events. What the September release adds is the city, the venue and the dates for 2026. Until then, the finals were expected in Riyadh in October, according to Sheep Esports on August 23, with the location still unconfirmed.
The calendar has moved as well. The 2025 finals were played in December; the 2026 edition closes in October, which brings the world titles forward by about two months.
How a nation reaches Jeddah
The FIFAe World Cup is played by national teams, which represent FIFA's member associations, the national football federations, rather than clubs. FIFA said more than 120 nations entered the qualification route for 2026, which it called a record, and described the series as one of the largest nation-based esports competition series in history.
Related readPUBG Nations Cup 2026 returns to Seoul with a Neutral Team entryThe route has two levels before the finals. The first is a long open phase. When it confirmed the 2025 and 2026 finals in July 2025, FIFA described an open qualification period lasting several months, with local and regional activities, meant to let more of its member associations compete for a place in the final event.
The second level is in person, and it is new: Sheep Esports explained in July 2026 that FIFAe was adding an extra stage, the Continental Championships, run through August and September. FIFA's September release lists five of them, in Malaysia, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico and Portugal, and says they decide which nations represent each region in Jeddah. On September 1, the last of them was under way. FIFA said the draws for the finals will take place once all five are over.
- Open qualificationNational teams compete over several months in local and regional activities. The best reach the continental stage.
- Continental ChampionshipFive in-person events, in Malaysia, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico and Portugal, hand out the places for Jeddah.
- FIFAe FinalsThe qualified nations are drawn once the five events are over, then meet in Jeddah from October 16.
One continental event up close
The championship held in Mexico shows how places are shared out. Concacaf, the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, staged it in Mexico City from August 28 to 30, at Gamergy, with one game per day: eFootball on mobile on August 28, eFootball on console on August 29 and Rocket League on August 30. Six nations played each competition.
The prize was a place in the finals, and the number of places differed by game. In Rocket League, the two best nations of the knockout stage qualified. In each of the two eFootball competitions, only the champion went through.
The six Rocket League nations were Canada, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico and the United States. On August 31, the confederation reported that the United States had won the Rocket League event and that the United States and Puerto Rico had both qualified, a historic qualification for Puerto Rico in its words. Puerto Rico came back from 2-0 down in the opening games of that series, according to Concacaf.
Related readSouth Korea's Asian Games LoL list: six players, two years of resultsThe confederations take a share of the work
The continental stage has brought football's regional confederations and their host countries into the route. Concacaf ran its championship under its eConcacaf banner and chose to stage it inside Gamergy, a festival it calls one of the region's leading gaming and esports events, which it said draws more than 80,000 attendees over its weekend.
The other events of the stage moved around the world in the same weeks. FIFA's release places the five Continental Championships in Malaysia, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico and Portugal. The Asian event was played in Kuala Lumpur, with Malaysia as the host nation, and the South American one in Rio de Janeiro, according to Sheep Esports. In South America, four nations played for two places in the Rocket League event, the outlet reported.
FIFA framed the whole series around its member associations. Christian Volk, FIFA's director of eFootball and gaming, said in the July 2025 release that fan feedback after the 2024 event had confirmed FIFA's vision of providing a home for football esports, and he spoke of onboarding free-to-play titles, games that cost nothing to download.
The Rocket League field takes shape
In Rocket League, a large part of the field was already known on September 1. Saudi Arabia has a place as the host nation, Sheep Esports reported in August.
In Kuala Lumpur, Australia won the Asian Continental Championship without dropping a game, beating Jordan 4-0 in the final; Jordan qualified as runners-up, and Oman took a third place by beating New Zealand 4-2 in an intercontinental playoff, the outlet reported on August 23. Malaysia, the host of that event, went out after losing the decider for third place to Oman 4-0. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil won the South American Continental Championship by beating Chile 4-0 in the grand final, and both nations qualified, Sheep Esports reported on August 24. Brazil had beaten Bolivia 4-0 in its semifinal, and Chile had reached the final by beating Argentina 4-0, a defeat that left Argentina without a place.
With the two places from Mexico City, the nations named so far in those reports are Saudi Arabia, Australia, Jordan, Oman, Brazil, Chile, the United States and Puerto Rico. The finals have 16 places in Rocket League, and the other places come from the remaining Continental Championships.
Last year's champions and what comes next
The 2026 finals will crown the successors of three national teams. At the FIFAe Finals 25 in Riyadh, France won the Rocket League World Cup, Thailand the eFootball mobile title and Poland the console title, FIFA announced on December 19, 2025. That edition counted 250 matches over eight competition days and a prize pool of US$450,000, and FIFA said 94 nations had taken part in its qualifying route, which it called the Road to Riyadh. For 2026, FIFA gives more than 120 nations entered.
Rocket League itself joined the FIFAe program in 2024, Sheep Esports recalled, after FIFA decided not to renew its licensing agreement with Electronic Arts. Saudi Arabia won the first Rocket League title that year, FIFA said in July 2025, while Indonesia won the eFootball console title and Malaysia the mobile one. That release was also the one that confirmed the finals for two seasons at once.
The next steps are already announced. The last Continental Championship ends first, then the draws of the three competitions. FIFA said details of the programming and the ticketing will follow in the coming weeks on its official FIFAe channels. The first matches in Jeddah, in eFootball, start on Friday, October 16.
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