The first Women’s Club World Cup will take place in January and February of 2026, FIFA has confirmed.
A 16-team tournament will take place every four years with the first edition set to take place in 20 months’ time in a host country that has not yet been announced.
The scheduling will see the competition played during the domestic season in European leagues and between the group stage and knockout rounds of the Champions League.
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North America’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season typically starts in March.
The decision was made at a meeting of the FIFA Council in Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday.
The 37-member council replaced the executive committee (ExCo) as FIFA’s main decision-making body in 2016, following the corruption scandals that tarnished the ExCo’s reputation.
A new global competition within the women’s game has been discussed for more than a decade with FIFA president Gianni Infantino saying he wanted to stage one “as soon as possible” as far back as 2019.
It remains to be seen how teams will qualify for the new Club World Cup with FIFA keen that all of the game’s regions are represented but mindful that the best teams all come from Europe, North America and South America.
Barcelona are reigning European champions with NJ/NY Gotham FC the current NWSL champions, and Brazilian side Corinthians holders of the Copa Libertadores Femenina.
The announcement comes as part of a new international match calendar on the women’s side for 2026-2029 with a reduction in the number of international windows down from six to five.
National teams will now play in February-March, April, May-June, October, and November-December each year, with “a minimum of four weeks between international opportunities also equating to fewer disruptions.”
FIFA says the aim is to give players more rest with less travel and disruption to domestic leagues at a time when player welfare and overall workload is a hot topic with a Women’s World Cup in 2027 and a 16-team Olympic competition at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
It was also announced that there will be a smaller additional FIFA tournament hosted in non-Club World Cup years.
Infantino said: “The women’s international match calendar and the subsequent amendments to our regulations represent an important milestone in our pledge to take the women’s game to the next level by enhancing competitiveness across the world, particularly in those regions women’s football is less developed and protecting the well-being of players.
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“Having agreed the calendar well in advance will be beneficial for planning purposes. We would like to thank all the confederations and other stakeholders for their efforts and commitment towards our common goal.”
The first edition of the expanded men’s tournament — which will also be staged every four years — is scheduled for next summer.
The 32-team competition will include 12 European sides, six CONMEBOL clubs and four teams from CONCACAF and takes place in the U.S. between June 15 and July 13.
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(Lars Baron/Getty Images)
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Based in North West England, Matt Slater is a senior football news reporter for The Athletic UK. Before that, he spent 16 years with the BBC and then three years as chief sports reporter for the UK/Ireland’s main news agency, PA. Follow Matt on Twitter @mjshrimper
