FIFA Confederations Cup

The FIFA Confederations Cup has developed into a tournament held every four years in the months of June or July for current national holders of championships in the six FIFA confederations (the Union of European Football Associations [UEFA]; the Confederation of African Football [CAF]; the Asian Football Confederation [AFC]; the South American Football Confederation [CONMEBOL]; the Oceania Football Confederation [OFC] and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football [CONCACAF]) plus the current FIFA World Cup holders and the host nation.

The tournament was originally held in Saudi Arabia in 1992 and 1995 and called the Kind Fahd Cup.

The first game was played on 15 October 1992 when Saudi Arabia recorded a 3-0 win against United States in front of a crowd of 70,000 at the King Fahd II Stadium in Riyadh.
It has since been organised by FIFA since 1997 when it was renamed the Confederations Cup.

From 1997, it was held every two years.

Since 2005, the tournament has increased in significance as it has changed to a four-yearly tournament and viewed as a dress rehearsal for the following year's FIFA World Cup finals, using the stadiums due to host the World Cup games.

There are instances in the tournament's history when some countries refused to participate in a bid to give football players a rest or due to overlapping schedules of matches of the Confederations Cup and national championships.

Germany missed the Confederations Cup twice (1997 and 2003) while France and Italy each declined the invitation once (1999 and 2003, respectively).

The immediate future of the competition is in doubt as the FIFA World Cup in 2022 is due to be played in Qatar.

As it has already been altered from the traditional summer event in the northern hemisphere to a late year event, the consequence is a domino effect on domestic league and cup fixtures as well as rescheduling of the UEFA Champions and UEFA Europa League.

As a winter Confederations Cup in Qatar in 2021 is highly unlikely, it is more probable that FIFA will almost certainly opt for the Club World Cup Finals as a substitute given that the date will match its regular slot on the football calendar.