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UEFA's 55 Nations Agree to Boycott World Cup

curiousJul 31, 2026·376 words·3 min read

UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations), which represents 55 national federations, announced on Thursday that its members would refuse to take part in any FIFA competition unless the world governing body abandons a plan to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors. FIFA (the International Federation of Association Football) had unveiled the proposal days earlier: a new company would take over the commercial and operational side of its tournaments, with minority shares sold to outside backers to raise roughly 3.

FIFA says it would still make every important decision. Europe does not accept this. It says that once investors own part of the competition, money will always come first. European officials are also angry because FIFA did not ask them first. FIFA president Gianni Infantino gave all 211 members until 19 September to decide.

Infantino needs 106 countries to agree, and about 90 are already against him. Europe used the same threat in 2021, and FIFA dropped its plan then. A women's Under-20 World Cup starts in Poland in September with six European teams.

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