Kurdistan to host world's largest football cup for unaffiliated regions

The Kurdistan Region will host the 2024 CONIFA World Football Cup with the participation of teams from 16 regions from around the world.

In an interview with the Department of Media and Information, Tariq Abdulrahman, President of the Kurdistan Football Association said that “matches will be played in Sulaymani, Erbil and Duhok. We will also try to hold matches in Soran and Zakho.”

This will be the second time that Kurdistan hosts such events, but the first time hosting the CONIFA World Football Cup. Preparations will now begin for matches which start in mid-2024.

The Kurdistan team has previously participated in two CONIFA tournaments and won the championship once.

Speaking on the selection of players to form the Kurdistan team for the 2024 cup, the President of Kurdistan Football Association said “we will follow a new mechanism to select the best players.”

The CONIFA World Football Cup is an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples, and regions unaffiliated with FIFA, which has been held every two years since 2014. The first competition was held in Sweden with the participation of 12 teams.

The Department of Media and Information
April 27, 2023