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A new six-team Women’s Champions Cup is to be established next year, featuring clubs from across the world. The competition was approved at a Fifa Council meeting on Wednesday that also confirmed a two-year delay to the first Women’s Club World Cup.
The 16-team Women’s Club World Cup was due to launch in 2026 but, as first reported by the Guardian, has been put on hold. It is understood Fifa believes the delay will ensure it has time to create space in the calendar for the additional fixtures. The competition will be played every four years from 2028.
In the meantime the Women’s Champions Cup will get under way, to be played annually other than in Women’s Club World Cup years. The champions of each confederation’s club tournament will take part.
The launch last year of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) W Champions Cup means that for the first time all six confederations will crown a club champion.
In the Women’s Champions Cup the champions of Asia and Oceania will face one another for the right to play the champions of Africa, with the winners progressing to a semi-final against the champions of Europe. The other semi-final will be between the champions of Concacaf and South America. There will then be a final and third-place match.
Next year’s semi-finals are scheduled for 28 January, with the final and third-place games on 1 February. Dates for the other matches are to be confirmed.
Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, said: “The Fifa Women’s Club World Cup will be a defining moment in the growth of women’s club football, giving the world’s top clubs the platform they deserve to compete against the best and put the women’s club game in the global spotlight.”
It is understood regular cross-confederation competitions between clubs have been widely supported by stakeholders and are in part designed to help the commercial ambitions of clubs.
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A host for the first Women’s Club World Cup is due to be announced as soon as possible. Asia, Africa, Concacaf and South America will each receive two automatic slots in the 16-team group stage, Uefa will have five automatic places and Oceania none. Playoffs involving six clubs – one from each confederation – will determine the remaining three places.
Details of the prize money will be presented to the Fifa Council and an examination of transfer windows undertaken, with the tournaments taking place out of season for some confederations.
