World football governing body FIFA has launched FIFA+, a free digital platform designed to connect with fans around the world ©FIFA

World football governing body FIFA has launched FIFA+, a free digital platform designed to connect with fans around the world.

From live matches to interactive games, news, tournament information, and video content on the men’s and women’s game in the world, fans will be able to access some of the best original content around the beautiful game, making them the first international sports federation to do so.

"FIFA+ represents the next step in our vision to make football truly global and inclusive, and it underpins FIFA’s core mission of expanding and developing football globally," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

"This project represents a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game and has been a fundamental part of my Vision 2020-2023.

"It will accelerate the democratisation of football and we are delighted to share it with fans."

An equivalent of 40,000 live games per year from 100 member associations across all six confederations, including 11,000 women’s matches will be available in the platform.

A total of 1400 matches is scheduled to be live streamed on a monthly basic, with the numbers sure to increase according to FIFA.

For those looking to dive into the history of the game, the FIFA+ Archive will have all camera recorded FIFA World Cup men’s and women’s matches available.

With over 2,000 hours of archive content, FIFA+ is also planning to include 2,500 videos dating back to the 1950s.

The Match centre, News and Gaming section will provide access to data from 400 men’s competitions and 65 women’s competitions.

Apart from daily news updates, the section will also have interactive games such as votes, quizzes and fantasy games.

Another section called Originals, is set to feature documentaries, talk shows and shorts localised in 11 languages on grassroots, national teams and footballing heroes, past and present, from more than 40- countries.

Among the first set of FIFA+ Originals will be a feature-length documentary called “Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World”, directed by Stuart and Andrew Douglas, telling the story of the iconic player who rose from the favelas of Brazil to becoming one of game’s best-ever players.

Season one of Captains, a series focusing on six leaders - Luka Modrić of Croatia, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon, Brian Kaltak of Vanuatu, Jamaica’s Andre Blake, Lebanon’s Hassan Maatouk and Thiago Silva of Brazil - and the journey of guiding their countries through qualification for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup will also be available.

Other Originals content include Croatia: Defining a Nation, HD Cutz, Dani Crazy Dream, Golden Boot, Icons and Academies.

 The FIFA+ streaming service will be available across all web and mobile devices in five languages - English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish - with an additional language to be added in June.