Almost 400,000 visitors worldwide: new visitor record for the FIFA Museum

In 2022, almost 400,000 visitors from over 135 different countries visited the FIFA Museum in Switzerland and internationally. The museum in Zurich welcomed 195,000 guests to its exhibitions and events. During the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, a further 179,000 visitors came to explore the four-week special exhibition as part of the FIFA Fan Festival™ in Doha. In addition, 22,000 visitors attended a travelling exhibition, displayed in venues across China PR. In doing so, the cultural institution of world football’s governing body has set new visitor records, both at its headquarters in the Swiss metropolis and internationally.

“Over the past year, we are delighted to have taken a significant step forward in our mission, celebrating and safeguarding the history and culture of international football and sharing the magic of the beautiful game with an ever-increasing number of people around the world,” said FIFA Museum Director Marco Fazzone. “The past 12 months have once again shown that the FIFA Museum is an attractive cultural destination, both in Zurich and all over the world, thanks to our engaging content, unique objects and popular formats, through which we bring fans and legends of the game closer together.”

Fazzone is looking forward to the new year with a sense of great anticipation: “We begin our 2023 programme with the opening of our special exhibition ‘Paolo Rossi: un ragazzo d’oro’ in Zurich on 10 February. We are also working intensively on our exhibition plans on the history, development and culture of women’s football, and the FIFA Museum will be present at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™. For the second half of the year, we are preparing an exhibition on design and football. This year we are excited to continue to reach out to football and culture lovers all over the world, as we further expand our international activities.”

Looking back on a year full of highlights and innovations

At the museum in Zurich, 2022 began with the opening of the new permanent “Trophy Room” exhibition area, in which the trophies from all FIFA tournaments are on display, and the remodelling of the 180-degree cinema, which now allows visitors to move freely between the different floors of the museum. The opening of the new special exhibition “211 Cultures. One game” in Zurich was one of the highlights of the year. Developed in curatorial collaboration with the 211 FIFA member associations and global fans, it features a remarkable display of objects and stories that represent football histories and cultures from around the world. The exhibition will be on display until 20 August 2023 in the museum’s newly developed temporary exhibition space.

Furthermore, two new series –” History Makers” and” Football Meets Cinema” (the latter in collaboration with Zurich Film Festival) – were established as part of an internationally oriented culture programme, in which idols, including Diego Forlán, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lothar Matthäus and Pascal Zuberbühler each personally interacted with hundreds of visitors. In addition, the launch of the FIFA Museum’s first digital exhibition, called “Origins: Pre-Histories of Football”, represented a further milestone. In total, 5.5 million people from around the world engaged with the FIFA Museum’s digital formats and content in 2022.

As the final highlight of the year, the FIFA Museum opened a special exhibition presented by FIFA partner Hyundai at the FIFA Fan Festival™ in Doha between 19 November and 18 December. It was the third such exhibition on site in the host country of the finals of a men’s or women’s World Cup, following Moscow 2018 and Paris 2019. Entitled” Goals Create History”, the exhibition allowed football fans from all over the world to immerse themselves in the history of the tournament since 1930.