[1] CONIFA is an organisation that provides an outlet for countries, sub-national entities, stateless peoples and ethnic minorities to play international football.

Because a number of their members represent diasporas or displaced peoples, it is not always possible for the host of the World Football Cup to be able to hold the competition in their own "territory".

The Quebec team had affiliated with the Fédération de soccer du Québec, with the intention that the FSQ eventually apply for membership of CONCACAF.

In April 2015, CONIFA, during its announcement of the final make up of the 2015 European Football Cup, that the top three teams in that competition would gain automatic entry into the 2016 WFC.

[17] Subsequently, in May 2015, two weeks before the scheduled dates of the two games, CONIFA and the MIFA announced that it had been expanded to four teams, with both Panjab and Felvidék also taking part; CONIFA also announced that the winner of the expanded Niamh Challenge Cup would gain automatic entry into the 2016 World Football Cup.

In March 2016, CONIFA announced that Padania had been expelled from the tournament due to procedural irregularities, to be replaced by Székely Land.

[21] However, three weeks prior to the start of the tournament, it was announced that Padania had been reinstated, taking the place of the Romani people team, who had been forced to withdraw due to difficulties with their travel documents.

[30] On 30 April 2024 the Kurdistan Football Association announced that the tournament would be postponed until "Summer 2025" citing security concerns preventing some teams from traveling to the region.