FIFA President Gianni Infantino has met the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and explained how football’s world governing body reinvests its revenue in developing football around the world, providing economic and social benefits in the process. During the meeting held on the fringes of the IMF World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, United States, the FIFA President also spoke about the enormous economic impact of the FIFA World Cup 26™, to be played in 16 Host Cities across Canada, Mexico and the United States from 11 June to 19 July 2026.

“It was an honour to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva today in Washington, D.C., where we discussed FIFA’s efforts in developing football around the world, particularly thanks to the revenues generated through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, from which we can reinvest across our 211 FIFA Member Associations via the FIFA Forward programme,” said the FIFA President. ”We also spoke about how football can provide economic and social benefits, especially in developing nations, which is in line with the IMF’s goals of achieving sustainable growth and prosperity. I was also pleased to learn that Kristalina Georgieva is a fan of our beautiful game, not only for the financial upsides it brings, but also the joy and hope it provides to people across the world.“  Kristalina Georgieva said: “Today, I had the pleasure of joining FIFA President Gianni Infantino and IMF staff - fellow fans of the “beautiful game” - to celebrate the power of sport to foster unity and cooperation. Sport is more than just a leisure activity; it has the power to connect us across cultures and backgrounds, reminding us of the importance of teamwork and well-being, especially in uncertain times.” During the 2023-2026 cycle, FIFA is providing up to USD 8 million to each of its 211 Member Associations (MAs) for operational costs and projects through the FIFA Forward Programme. Additional funding of up to USD 1.2 million is available for MAs identified as needing the most assistance, to cover national team travel and accommodation costs, as well as football equipment. It also provides up to USD 60 million per confederation to develop and promote football and up to USD 5 million per zonal/regional association.

Between 2016 and 2026, FIFA will have made available a total of USD 5.1 billion in funding through the three cycles of the programme, with many of these projects having a knock-on effects as they can boost the local economy and create jobs, as well as social benefits, in line with the IMF’s aim to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for its 191 member countries. For the FIFA World Cup 26, an economic assessment study released by FIFA and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat in April 2025 estimated that the 48-team tournament could help drive up to USD 40.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), deliver USD 8.28 billion in social benefits and underpin the creation of nearly 824,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs globally.