The world Football body, FIFA has selected Rwanda among the nations that will host the FIFA Series in 2026.

FIFA confirmed that several countries including Rwanda and Mauritius from Africa for the men’s category will host the FIFA Series 2026 to take place during the international match window in March and April.

The FIFA Series for both men and women offers national teams from different continents a unique platform to compete and connect beyond their traditional confederation boundaries.

Last year Tanzania was the only team from the CECAFA Zone that played in the first edition of the FIFA Series that also featured Bulgaria, Mongolia and Azerbaijan.

“The FIFA Series is about unlocking development potential for players, coaches and fans, while promoting football’s universality and diversity through meaningful matches. The 2026 edition will further enhance that impact for men’s and women’s football alike,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The men’s FIFA Series will be hosted by Rwanda, Australia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Puerto Rico and Uzbekistan. The women’s FIFA Series will debut with events in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and Thailand.

The FIFA Series is aligned with FIFA’s Strategic Objectives for the Global Game: 2023-2027, which focus on creating more opportunities for competitive balance, technical growth and cross-continental exchange.

Uganda Cubs settled for a 1-1 draw against Venezuela in their first match of the U-17 Dubai Youth Challenge played on Thursday night.

The two teams using the tournament to prepare ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar completed the first half goalless at the Al Arabi Sports and Cultural Club.

Forward James Bogere put Uganda ahead after 52 minutes with a neat finish after picking up Isima Mulala Magala’s good pass.

But the South American team did not give and pushed forward before they leveled matters after 74 minutes.

Head coach Brian Ssenyondo said although his team missed several scoring opportunities, he is happy with the what they expressed themselves.

“Despite the missed chances I am very happy as a coach to see how the boys have been coordinating on the pitch through combination play, mobility, making runs and building from the back through the middle third to the final third,” he added.

Uganda Cubs will next face Panama on Sunday, and complete against Paraguay on October 28^th.

Uganda will be the only nation from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) Zone that will appear in the FIFA U-17 World Cup slated for November 3-27th in Qatar.

Uganda Cubs are placed in Group K together with Chile, Canada and France.

Hosts Zanzibar Heroes held Nigeria’s CHAN team to a goalless draw in an international friendly match played on Monday at the Mau Tse Tung Stadium.

The Nigerian team dominated play, but failed to penetrate the Zanazibar defending line marshaled by skipper Abdalla Kheir Salum.

Nigeria’s midfielder Michael Tochukwu, fullbacks Taiwo Abdulrafiu and Leonard Ngenge and striker Anthony Ijoma also showed some flashes of brilliance.

Eric Chelle, Nigeria’s coach said that he was happy that his team had a chance to play a competitive match against Zanzibar. “The match has helped us gauge how prepared we are and we shall have another match with the same team on Thursday,” added Chelle.

Zanzibar’s coach Ali Suleiman Haji Mtuli also thanked his players for putting up a good show against Nigeria.

The Nigerian team is preparing ahead of the TotalEnergies CAf African nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 which will be co-hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania from August 2-30^th.

Group D that has Nigeria, Congo Brazzaville, Sudan and defending champions Senegal will be based in Zanzibar with the matches played at the Amaan Stadium.

Harambee Stars have picked a 2-1 win against Chad in an international friendly match played at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco.

Emmanuel Osoro gave Kenya the lead after 18 minutes. He made no mistake finishing off a cross by Ben Omondi.

Chad who managed to hold Kenya to a goalless draw in the first match few days ago tried to push forward to find goals, but failed to penetrate the Harambee Stars defending line.

At the stroke of half time David Sakwa made it 2-0 for Kenya. But after the interval Chad intensified their search for goals and were rewarded after 60 minutes through Ali Mahamat Adam.

The win also marked head coach Benni McCarthy’s first victory from four matches since taking charge of the team in March this year.

Harambee Stars used the two friendly matches to prepare ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) 2025 to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Meanwhile, Burundi also registered a goalless draw against Mauritania in an international friendly match played in Morocco on Tuesday evening.