Members of the fund's advisory board shared inspiring reflections with an international audience
Fund aims to provide quality education and football development for 100,000 children worldwide
Celebration highlighted growing support for the initiative as it moves closer to its USD 100 million goal
The FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund was featured prominently at the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ on Friday, 5 December, with moving messages from the fund's advisory board members , reinforcing the transformative power of education and the impact the initiative aims to deliver for children worldwide.
In a special video message, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Global Citizen Co-Founder and CEO Hugh Evans, Australian actor Hugh Jackman, Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, FIFA Legend Kaká, and Bank of America Co-President Jim DeMare invited the global audience to consider how access to quality education - combined with the joy of the game - can drive meaningful and lasting change.
"On the occasion of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, we donated 1 USD for each ticket sold to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. We will do the same for the FIFA World Cup 2026, and we will ask everyone else participating in it to contribute too," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "Half of the USD 100 million or more that will be part of this fund will go directly to FIFA Football for Schools. This fantastic project gives children in 211 FIFA Member Associations around the world - more than the number of countries represented in the United Nations - the opportunity to be educated using football as a school of life, using the values of football for their growth and education."
Global Citizen's Co-Founder and CEO Hugh Evans added: "There are 250 million children around the world without access to basic education. The fact that FIFA is using this platform to make sure that over 100,000 children get access to quality education is very powerful. We set ourselves this massively ambitious goal to raise USD 100 million for quality education, and we've already raised over USD 30 million. We have advisory board members such as Abel [The Weeknd], Hugh Jackman, Shakira, Ivanka Trump and Serena Williams, who are united behind a common mission to make sure that everyone has access to quality education."
Launched earlier this year , the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund aims to raise USD 100 million by the final of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ , where Global Citizen will put on the tournament's first-ever half-time show. The fund will expand access to quality education and football development for children in over 200 communities globally through grassroots education programmes.
"When you have two big organisations like FIFA and Global Citizen [working] together, you bring attention, credibility and authority to a very interesting project," reflected FIFA Legend Kaká, who won the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™. "Football was really important for my education. It [played] a key role in my life. This is a great platform which allows kids and young people to dream."
Organisations providing access to education and sport for children in underserved communities around the world are invited to apply online for grants of up to USD 250,000 from the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. The first round of grantees will be announced in early 2026.
