FIFA have today announced the establisment of a new Women’s Champions Cup as well as a confirmed start date for the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup following a FIFA Council meeting.
This year will see all six confederations crown a women’s continental club champion for the first time. Buidling on this momentum, FIFA will therefore establish a new competition, the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, from 2026.
It will feature the six winners of the confederation finals this year:
- AFC Women’s Champions League: 24 May 2025
- CAF Women’s Champions League: 23 November 2025
- Concacaf W Champions Cup: 24 May 2025
- CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina: 18 October 2025
- OFC Women’s Champions League: 17 May 2025
- UEFA Women’s Champions League: 24 May 2025
The preliminary stage will feature two knockout rounds – the AFC champions will face OFC champions in Round 1 with the winners visiting the CAF champions in Round 2. The Round 2 winners will then progress to a Final Four to be played between between 28 January-1 February 2026. Those winner will meet the UEFA champions while the CONCACAF champions will face the CONMEBOL champions. The winners of the semi-finals will contest the final, with the runners-up competing for third place.
The FIFA Council also decided that the first ever Women’s Club World Cup will take place in January-February 2028. The introduction of the competition has been delayed by two years. The make-up of the 16-team tournament will be as follows:
- 3 play-off winners from 6 clubs from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, the OFC and UEFA
- 2 clubs from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL
- 5 clubs from UEFA
The tournament will be held every four years. The group stage will feature four groups of four, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the knockout stage.
