Thailand is happy when King's Cup is recognized by FIFA as a category A tournament

FIFA has just officially sent a letter of confirmation, recognizing the traditional friendly football tournament King's Cup of Thailand (King's Cup) as an international tournament of category A (FIFA International A Match).

This recognition means that all matches within the framework of the upcoming 51st King's Cup will count towards the FIFA rankings at Tier 1 level, the highest level for international friendly matches.

According to FIFA regulations, the classification of 'A' international matches is introduced to standardize and improve the accuracy and reliability of calculating world rankings. Major and official tournaments such as the World Cup, Confederations Cup, EURO or Asian Cup (including qualifying and final rounds) are automatically recognized as 'A' matches.

However, special friendly tournaments such as the King's Cup can also be recognised as 'A' category if they meet the following strict conditions:

Must be a match between two official national teams (team 1). The refereeing team in charge of the match, including assistant referees, must be FIFA referees.

There must be at least 48 hours between matches played by a team. Finally, detailed match reports and player lists must be sent to the offices of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 51st King's Cup will take place in September 2025 with the participation of 4 national teams and territories including: Thailand, Iraq, Hong Kong and Fiji.