FIFA held talks over the past year with private investors to commercialise a massive 211-nation Under-15 tournament inspired by baseball’s Little League World Series, before shelving the proposals ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

The concept was spearheaded by a consortium that included former Mexican Football Federation commissioner Juan Carlos Rodríguez and received financial backing from Eldridge Industries, the holding company founded and chaired by Chelsea chairman and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly.

Disney World Staging and Broadcaster Talks

Under the submitted proposals, the youth festival was planned to take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Broadcaster ESPN was approached to televise the tournament in the United States, with plans also exploring opening and closing ceremonies hosted across Disney theme parks.

The competition aimed to accommodate all 211 FIFA member associations across 32 groups of six or seven teams. The format was designed around shorter matches and smaller pitches compared to senior football.

Sources indicated that investors were prepared to forego upfront rights fees from global broadcasters to build maximum reach across television and streaming platforms, creating long-term commercial value through sponsorships and international visibility, especially for nations that rarely qualify for senior World Cups.

Political Ideas and Private Stake Discussions

FIFA president Gianni Infantino also proposed that the opening match of the festival feature the national teams of Israel and Palestine, although that fixture was not included in the formal bid presented by Eldridge and Rodríguez.

The secret discussions coincided with separate explorations by FIFA leadership to sell a minority stake in its commercial operations to outside investors, including Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. However, FIFA informed Eldridge shortly before the 2026 World Cup that it would not be moving forward with the proposal.

Shift to Azerbaijan

Concerns were raised internally regarding the optics of aggressively commercialising a tournament featuring children, alongside governance hurdles and potential conflicts with other commercial initiatives.

FIFA ultimately announced that the inaugural Under-15 tournament will instead take place in Azerbaijan. In an official statement, FIFA noted that the decision to stage the event in Baku followed a “thorough assessment by the FIFA administration and takes into account the world-class sporting and general infrastructure in the host country, which is capable of welcoming thousands of children and support staff in a centralised location.”