# FIFA Congress

The FIFA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the International Association Football Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by the acronym FIFA /ˈfiːfə/. FIFA is the international governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer. The congress may be ordinary or extraordinary.
An ordinary congress meets every year, an extraordinary congress may be convened by the FIFA Council (formerly Executive Committee) at any time with the support of one fifth of the members of FIFA.
Each of the 211 members of FIFA has one vote in the congress. The members of FIFA can propose candidates for the World Cup Host and Presidency of FIFA. The FIFA Presidential Election, FIFA World Cup Host country election takes place at the congress in the year following the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup Host country election takes place at the congress in the year following the FIFA Women's World Cup.

## History

The FIFA Congress has been held annually since 1998. It was previously held every two years. Congresses were not held between 1915 and 1922 and 1939 to 1945, due to the First and Second World Wars. FIFA Presidential Elections have taken place at the 1st, 3rd, 12th, 29th, 30th, 39th, 51st, 53rd, 61st, 65th, 69th and 73rd congresses.
The 1961 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in London elected Stanley Rous as President. The 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in Zürich elected Gianni Infantino as the new president on 26 February 2016. Only five elections have had two or more candidates: the 39th (1974), 51st (1998), 53rd (2002), 65th (2015), and 2016 Extraordinary Congress.

## List of congresses

| Congress number | Year | City | Member associations attending | Notes |
| 1st | 1904 | Paris | 5 | First FIFA Congress. Robert Guérin elected as the first president of FIFA. |
| 2nd | 1905 | Paris | 5 | |
| 3rd | 1906 | Bern | 7 | |
| 4th | 1907 | Amsterdam | 12 | |
| 5th | 1908 | Vienna | 16 | |
| * | 1908 | Brussels | 7 | |
| 6th | 1909 | Budapest | 13 | |
| 7th | 1910 | Milan | 12 | |
| 8th | 1911 | Dresden | 11 | |
| 9th | 1912 | Stockholm | 17 | |
| 10th | 1913 | Copenhagen | 12 | |
| 11th | 1914 | Christiania (Oslo) | 17 | Last Congress before World War I. |
| 12th | 1923 | Geneva | 17 | First Congress after World War I. Jules Rimet elected FIFA president. |
| 13th | 1924 | Paris | 27 | |
| 14th | 1925 | Prague | 22 | |
| 15th | 1926 | Rome | 23 | |
| 16th | 1927 | Helsinki | 21 | |
| 17th | 1928 | Amsterdam | 29 | |
| 18th | 1929 | Barcelona | 23 | Uruguay selected as the host of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. |
| 19th | 1930 | Budapest | 27 | |
| 20th | 1931 | Berlin | 25 | |
| 21st | 1932 | Stockholm | 29 | Italy selected as the host of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. |
| 22nd | 1934 | Rome | 27 | |
| 23rd | 1936 | Berlin | 37 | France selected as the host of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. |
| 24th | 1938 | Paris | 30 | Last Congress before World War II. |
| 25th | 1946 | Luxembourg | 34 | First Congress after World War II. Brazil selected as the host of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Switzerland selected as the host of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. |
| 26th | 1948 | London | 48 | |
| 27th | 1950 | Rio de Janeiro | 35 | Sweden selected as the host of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. |
| 28th | 1952 | Helsinki | 56 | |
| * | 1953 | Paris | 48 | |
| 29th | 1954 | Bern | 52 | Arthur Drewry elected FIFA president. |
| 30th | 1956 | Lisbon | 57 | |
| 31st | 1958 | Stockholm | 62 | |
| 32nd | 1960 | Rome | 69 | England selected as the host of the 1966 FIFA World Cup. |
| * | 1961 | London | 67 | Stanley Rous elected FIFA president. |
| 33rd | 1962 | Santiago | 59 | |
| 34th | 1964 | Tokyo | 99 | |
| 35th | 1966 | London | 94 | |
| 36th | 1968 | Guadalajara | 78 | |
| 37th | 1970 | Mexico City | 86 | |
| 38th | 1972 | Paris | 102 | |
| 39th | 1974 | Frankfurt | 122 | João Havelange elected FIFA president. |
| 40th | 1976 | Montreal | 108 | |
| 41st | 1978 | Buenos Aires | 107 | João Havelange elected to a second term as FIFA president. |
| 42nd | 1980 | Zürich | 103 | |
| 43rd | 1982 | Madrid | 127 | João Havelange elected to a third term as FIFA president. |
| 44th | 1984 | Zürich | 112 | |
| 45th | 1986 | Mexico City | 111 | João Havelange elected to a fourth term as FIFA president. |
| 46th | 1988 | Zürich | 111 | United States selected as the host of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. |
| 47th | 1990 | Rome | 130 | João Havelange elected to a fifth term as FIFA president. |
| 48th | 1992 | Zürich | 118 | France selected as the host of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. |
| 49th | 1994 | Chicago | 164 | |
| 50th | 1996 | Zürich | 182 | Japan and South Korea selected as the hosts of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. |
| 51st (details) | 1998 | Paris | 196 | Sepp Blatter elected FIFA president. |
| * | 1999 | Los Angeles | 195 | |
| 52nd | 2000 | Zürich | 200 | Germany selected as the host of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. |
| * | 2001 | Buenos Aires | 202 | |
| * | 2002 | Seoul | 202 | |
| 53rd (details) | 2002 | Seoul | 202 | Sepp Blatter elected to a second term as FIFA president. |
| * | 2003 | Doha | 204 | |
| 54th | 2004 | Paris | 203 | South Africa selected as the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. |
| 55th | 2005 | Marrakesh | 203 | |
| 56th | 2006 | Munich | 207 | |
| 57th | 2007 | Zürich | 206 | Sepp Blatter elected to a third term as FIFA president. |
| 58th | 2008 | Sydney | 200 | |
| 59th | 2009 | Nassau | 205 | |
| 60th | 2010 | Johannesburg | 207 | |
| 61st (details) | 2011 | Zürich | 208 | Sepp Blatter elected to a fourth term as FIFA president. |
| 62nd | 2012 | Budapest | 209 | |
| 63rd | 2013 | Port Louis | 208 | |
| 64th | 2014 | São Paulo | 209 | |
| 65th (details) | 2015 | Zürich | 210 | Sepp Blatter elected to a fifth term as FIFA president. |
| * (details) | 2016 | Zürich | 207 | Gianni Infantino elected FIFA president. |
| 66th | 2016 | Mexico City | 209 | |
| 67th | 2017 | Manama | 211 | |
| 68th (details) | 2018 | Moscow | 210 | United States, Mexico, and Canada selected as the hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. |
| 69th (details) | 2019 | Paris | 211 | Gianni Infantino elected to a second term as FIFA president. |
| 70th | 2020 | Zürich | 211 | |
| 71st | 2021 | Zürich | 211 | |
| 72nd | 2022 | Doha | 210 | |
| 73rd (details) | 2023 | Kigali | 208 | Gianni Infantino elected to a third term as FIFA president. |
| 74th | 2024 | Bangkok | 211 | Brazil selected as the host of the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. |
| * | 2024 | Zürich | 211 | Morocco, Portugal, and Spain selected as the hosts of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia selected as the host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup. |
| 75th | 2025 | Asunción | TBC | 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup host to be announced. |
| 76th | 2026 | or or | TBC | 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup, and 2028 FIFA Women's Club World Cup host to be announced |
| 77th | 2027 | Tokyo | TBC | |

## Extraordinary congresses

A total of nine extraordinary congresses have taken place: 1908 (Brussels), 1953 (Paris), 1961 (London), 1999 (Los Angeles), 2001 (Buenos Aires), 2002 (Seoul), 2003 (Doha), 2016 (Zürich) and 2024 (Online). In the 2016 Extraordinary Congress, FIFA President Sepp Blatter would have remained in his position until his successor is elected. However, due to the fact he was suspended, the Acting FIFA President, Issa Hayatou was in charge of FIFA.