Fédération Internationale de Football Association

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed on 21 May 1904 in Paris, France, with seven founding members: Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by Madrid Football Club), Sweden, and Switzerland. As of January 2026, FIFA has 211 Member Associations. The organization’s headquarters is located in Zürich, Switzerland, and its current president is Italy’s Gianni Infantino.

Although men’s football was part of the Olympic programme at both Paris 1900 and St. Louis 1904 (as well as at the 1906 Intercalated Olympics), the 1908 Olympic football tournament is considered the first actual Olympic event recognized by FIFA, which considers the 1900 and 1904 tournaments unofficial or exhibitions, and does not recognize the 1906 tournament as Olympic. The federation would organize the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Women’s football would only appear at the highest international level much later. FIFA staged the first FIFA Women’s World Cup in Guangdong, China, in 1991, and the Olympic début for women footballers would come five years later, at Atlanta 1996.

Football has also been featured twice in the programme of the Summer Youth Olympics, at Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014, with tournaments for boys and girls.

Besides association football, FIFA also oversees the non-Olympic disciplines of futsal and beach aoccer. The 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship, held in the Netherlands, was the first futsal World championship for men, while 2025 brought the first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, held in the Philippines. Despite never having appeared at the Olympic Games, boys’ and girls’ futsal tournaments were held at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, replacing association football in the programme. The first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup for men was first held in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but, as of 2026, FIFA has yet to organize its first Women’s Beach Soccer World Cup.