The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, more commonly known by its acronym FIFA, is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, its membership now comprises 211 national associations. These national associations must also be members of one of the six regional confederations: CAF (Africa), AFC, UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF, OFC (Oceania), and CONMEBOL.
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. The reigning champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the 2022 tournament by defeating France.
The Union of European Football Associations is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.
The IFAF World Championship of American Football is an international gridiron competition held every four years and contested by teams representing member nations. The competition is run by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), the international governing body for the sport. Seventy-one nations have a national American football team. The most recent tournament, in 2015, featured seven teams.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there are 211 national and six regional associations that make up the ITF's membership.
The German Football Association is the governing body of football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League, organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) was the section of AFC that managed women's association football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, British Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In 1986, ALFC merged with AFC.
The Malta national football team represents Malta in men's international football and is controlled by the Malta Football Association, the governing body for football in Malta.
The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA, for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbered years. It was first held in 2002 as the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship with an upper age limit of 19. In 2006, the age limit was raised to the current 20. The event was renamed as a World Cup since the 2008 competition, making its name consistent with FIFA's other worldwide competitions for national teams.
The Federation of International Touch (FIT) is the worldwide governing body for Touch football. The Federation of International Touch was formed at a meeting held in conjunction with the Australian National championships, and first ever international representative fixtures between Australia and New Zealand, in Melbourne, 1985.
International Bowling Federation (IBF), formerly known as the Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) from 1952 to April 2014 and as World Bowling (WB) from April 2014 to November 2020, is the world governing body of nine-pin and ten-pin bowling. IBF was founded in 1952 in Hamburg, Germany by officials of the International Bowling Association to grow worldwide interest in amateur ten-pin and nine-pin bowling, as well as international friendship by encouraging world and zone tournaments and other competition between bowlers of different countries. IBF has been recognized by the International Olympic Committee since 1979 as the governing body for bowling sports. Starting with five member federations in 1952, it grew to 141 in 2010. IBF has member federations located in all five Olympic regions.
The Federation of International Polo (FIP) is the international federation representing the sport of polo, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The FIP was founded in 1982 by representatives of eleven national polo associations, and it represents the national polo associations of more than 80 countries. Its principal aim is to enhance the international image and status of polo.
The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the national organising body for darts in all nations. The WDF encourages the promotion of the sport of darts among and between those bodies, in an effort to gain international recognition for darts as a major sport. The WDF was a full member of Global Association of International Sports Federations, which was the governing body for international sports federations, until dissolution in 2023.
The World Croquet Federation (WCF) is the world governing body for croquet. Its primary objective is to make the various codes of the game "well-known, well-understood, well-respected and well-supported sports in countries throughout the world". To that end, it encourages, promotes and develops Golf Croquet and Association Croquet internationally at all levels. The WCF sanctions various croquet tournaments for both individuals and national teams, held worldwide, maintains world rankings for individuals and nations, and governs changes to the laws of Association Croquet and the rules of Golf Croquet.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries.
World Lacrosse (WL), formerly the Federation of International Lacrosse, is the international governing body of lacrosse, responsible for the men's, women's, and indoor versions of the sport. It was established in 2008 by the merger of the previously separate men's and women's international lacrosse associations. Its headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
The International Esports Federation (IESF) is a global organization based in South Korea whose mission it is to have esports recognized as a legitimate sport.
The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) is a non-profit organization whose stated purpose is to "serve as the global governing body for Match Poker". IFMP is incorporated as a legal entity pursuant to articles 60 to 79 of the Swiss Civil Code and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The International Quadball Association (IQA), previously known as the International Quidditch Association, is the governing body for the sport of quadball. It was founded as the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association in 2009 following the first intercollegiate quidditch match. In 2010, the IQA added the "international" term to its name, and 2016 saw its induction as an international sports federation with its creation of the Congress. It comprises more than ten national associations governing quidditch in their respective nations.
