In 2024, FIFA started a new design for the March window friendlies to give smaller countries especially the chance to play international foes they normally wouldn't and/or more challenging opponents.

The picks groups of nations from different continental regions to meet at one hosting country and do little round robin sessions or tournaments in March.

They try to group nations up by having similar standing in the World Rankings, though sometimes a minnow faces a decent squad.

This year they ran the following mini "tournaments"

Australia Series - Sydney & Melbourne

3/27 (Sydney) | China 2-0 Curaçao

3/27 (Sydney) | Australia 1-0 Cameroon

3/31 (Melbourne) | Cameroon 2-0 China

3/31 (Melbourne) | Australia 5-1 Curaçao

Australia is considered the champion by winning the round robin group. Those results don't bode well for World Cup debutants Curaçao

Azerbaijan Series - Sumgait

3/27 Semifinal | Azerbaijan 6-1 St. Lucia

3/30 Final | Azerbaijan 1-1 Sierra Leone | 9-8 Azerbaijan on PKs

Indonesia Series - Jakarta

3/27 Semifinal | Bulgaria 10-2 Soloman Islands

3/27 Semifinal | Indonesia 4-0 St. Kitts and Nevis

3/30 Third Place | St. Kitts and Nevis 4-2 Soloman Islands

3/30 Final | Bulgaria 1-0 Indonesia

Kazakhstan Series - Astana

3/25 | Kazakhstan 2-0 Namibia

3/28 | Namibia 0-0 Comoros | 5-4 Namibia on PKs

3/31 | Kazakhstan 1-0 Comoros

Kazakhstan is considered the champion by winning the round robin group.

New Zealand Series - Auckland

3/27 | Chile 4-2 Cape Verde Islands

3/27 | Finland 2-0 Australia

3/30 | Cape Verde Islands 1-1 Finland | 4-2 Cape Verde on PKs

3/30 | New Zealand 4-1 Chile

Finland is considered the champion by winning the round robin group as they considered the Cape Verde/Finland match to be a draw as far as points are concerned.

Puerto Rico Series - Bayamon

3/25 Semifinal | U.S. Virgin Islands 5-2 American Samoa

3/25 Semifinal | Puerto Rico 4-0 Guam

3/28 Third Place | Guam 6-0 American Samoa

3/28 Final | Puerto Rico 2-0 U.S. Virgin Islands

Rwanda A Series - Kigali

3/27 Semifinal | Estonia 1-1 Kenya | 5-4 Estonia on PKs

3/27 Semifinal | Rwanda 4-0 Grenada

3/30 Third Place | Kenya 3-0 Grenada

3/30 Final | Rwanda 2-0 Estonia

Rwanda Series B - Kigali

3/26 Semifinal | Aruba 4-1 Macau

3/26 Semifinal | Liechtenstein 1-0 Tanzania

3/29 Third Place | Tanzania 6-0 Macau

3/29 Final | Aruba 4-1 Liechtenstein

Great result for Aruba, one of the Caribbean minnows, Liechtenstein's semifinal victory has to be one their best results in their history.

Uzbekistan Series - Tashkent

3/27 | Venezuela 4-1 Trinidad and Tobago

3/27 | Uzbekistan 3-1 Gabon

3/30 | Gabon 2-2 Trinidad and Tobago | 3-2 Gabon on PKs

3/30 | Uzbekistan 0-0 Venezuela | 5-4 Uzbekistan on PKs

They set this up as a group, even though it ended being like semifinals and a final. Either way, Uzbekistan is the champion.

Edited Thursday at 20:174 days by DJHazey

Interesting set of games - think it's a good initiative to get more teams playing international football. Eek at Curacao though, if they lose 5-1 to Australia then I do worry for them against Germany.