The International Federation of Muaythai Associations -IFMA- will add a new Team World Cup to its international calendar in 2027. The Executive Board, chaired by Sakchye Tapsuwan, approved the creation of the tournament during its meeting in Kosovo and awarded Malaysia the right to host the inaugural edition. Each participating federation will enter a team of eight athletes, while a total prize fund of US$200,000 will be distributed among the three highest-placed countries and the individual medallists. The dates, host city and venue have yet to be announced.
The innovation involves more than simply using the World Cup name. IFMA has previously applied the title to competitions such as the 2015 Royal World Cup in Bangkok, but it is presenting the 2027 event as the debut of a new World Cup specifically designed for teams. It will be the first tournament built around eight-member national squads and will award the title of Muaythai Team World Cup champion. The federation is therefore adding a collective competition to an international structure traditionally based on individual results and national medal tables.
Fifteen countries and a world team
The first confirmed teams are Thailand, Russia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Ukraine, the United States and Australia. Another seven federations will secure places in the coming months and will be announced on 5 December during the King’s Cup in Bangkok. The field will consist of 15 national teams and a distinctive 16th entry: the World All-Stars Team, made up of champions from different countries.
IFMA has yet to explain the criteria for selecting the World All-Stars or whether the squad may include athletes belonging to any of the 15 qualified federations. Other sporting details also remain unresolved, including the weight categories, the participation of men and women, the competition system, the scoring method used to determine the overall champion and the precise distribution of the prize fund. In any event, limiting each country to eight athletes will require the federations to select a small group from among their leading specialists.
Two sets of rules for one World Cup
The competition will be staged through cooperation between IFMA, the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee -IOC-, and the World Muaythai Council -WMC-, an organisation associated with the professional side of the sport and operating under Thai royal patronage. Preliminary bouts will be contested under IFMA rules, while the finals will follow WMC rules. The tournament will therefore bring the technical structures of two of the sport’s leading international organisations together in the same competition.
The combination is intended to build a bridge between the federation pathway and professional muaythai. IFMA contributes its network of national federations, competition procedures and standards developed within the international sports movement, while WMC brings its connection to professional bouts and Thailand’s competitive tradition. The announcement does not yet explain which conditions will change when athletes progress from the preliminary rounds to the finals, but the format will allow the two organisations to share a new international property and showcase their leading competitors together.
Malaysia expands its role as a host
Malaysia already has experience within the IFMA calendar. It hosted the World Championships in 2014 and, in June 2026, Kuala Lumpur staged the inaugural Muaythai School World Championships, which brought together around 1,480 participants from five continents. The 2027 World Cup will allow the country to move from hosting a large development competition to an event centred on elite national teams, although it has not yet been confirmed whether the tournament will return to the capital.
For IFMA, the new tournament provides a different narrative from its conventional championships: eight athletes will compete towards a shared result, countries will be able to present each contest as a meeting between national teams and the US$200,000 prize fund will provide an additional financial incentive. The World All-Stars, the cooperation with WMC and the selection of Malaysia complete a proposal designed to expand muaythai’s calendar and international profile. The concept has now been approved; the next announcements will need to establish how the remaining seven federations qualify and how each individual bout contributes to the collective title of Team World Cup champion.
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