The world football governing body announced on Monday that Egypt has been chosen as the fifth nation to host a new series of friendly matches that FIFA introduced to allow teams from different confederations to face each other.

According to a statement from FIFA, the pilot programme has been extended to include 24 national teams from three continents.

The Egypt edition, scheduled for March 22–26, will feature New Zealand, Croatia, and Tunisia as well.

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On Friday, Egypt will play host to New Zealand in the inaugural match. This game will also serve as the official opening of a new 92,000-seat stadium that Egypt constructed in a new administrative capital located 45 km (28 miles) east of Cairo.

The stadium, known as Egypt Stadium, has 94,000 seats and is the second largest in Africa, after Soccer City in South Africa.

In the second encounter, the victors will play each other, with Tunisia taking on Croatia in the first game.

FIFA will pay for travel expenses, and the series is intended to help national teams that do not have the chance to play teams from other confederations, even though there are no trophies or prize money.

Other versions will be held concurrently this month in Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Algeria, and Azerbaijan; however, the formats will be different.