The inaugural 2028 Women’s Club World Cup will be held in the United States, FIFA has confirmed.
World football’s governing body approved the first women’s tournament as its Congress in December 2025, and confirmed it would take place between January 5-30, 2028, in the middle of the European domestic season.
Seven clubs have already qualified for the 19-team competition, courtesy of winning continental tournaments in the past two seasons. The list includes Women’s Super League (WSL) side Arsenal and current European champions Barcelona, along with current National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) leaders Gotham FC.
They are joined by Corinthians of Brazil, China’s Wuhan Jiangda WFC, Mexican side Club America and Naegohyang of North Korea.
FIFA has also confirmed that each Participating Member Association for the 2027 Women’s World Cup will receive $2.5million (£1.87m) in preparation funds, to be made available before December 2026. That is the same preparation fee as teams received for the men’s World Cup earlier this year.
‘The United States’ recent excellence in staging top FIFA tournaments, combined with the significant interest in women’s football there plus its elite sporting infrastructure, made the country the standout option,” said Dame Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s chief women’s football officer, of the newly-created club tournament.
Bareman, who said the tournament would be a “benchmark” for the future of women’s football, added: “These seven clubs, and a dozen more, will come together to show the strength and depth of women’s club football to a global audience.”
Along with Arsenal and Barcelona, there will be four other representatives from UEFA, while there will be three clubs from each of Asia’s AFC, Africa’s CAF and CONMEBOL, covering South America. The tournament will also have one side representing Oceania (OFC).
The first edition of the Women’s Club World Cup was initially set to take place this year, but it was later pushed back to 2028, after stakeholders in the women’s game told FIFA that more time was needed to get it right.
The timing of the tournament has been met with some criticism. In January, a spokesperson for the WSL said the January dates could be “catastrophic” for the competition, and claimed WSL Football was not consulted over the final dates by FIFA.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman, meanwhile, acknowledged the “fundamental challenge” of scheduling the tournament.
“From our perspective the pro is that it doesn’t disrupt our season,” Berman told The Athletic. “The con is that the teams that will be competing from our league, Gotham and others who will qualify in the coming months and years, will be in their off season. Those clubs are going to be coming off of a break, which inherently is an uneven playing field.”
The Women’s Club World Cup joins the Champions Cup, which completed its inaugural edition in January, as the latest additions to the women’s football schedule introduced by FIFA.
The delay to the Women’s Club World Cup meant it would fall on the same year at the Olympic Games, taking place in the United States between July 14-30, and six months after the Women’s World Cup in Brazil (June 24 to July 25, 2027).
The Women’s Club World Cup becomes the latest major sporting event added to the U.S.’ extensive recent portfolio, and follows the men’s version of the tournament, which also saw its inaugural edition hosted on American soil.
The U.S., alongside Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica, is expected to also host the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
As a result of the delay to the tournament, it will be taking place in the same year and country at the 2028 Olympic Games, which is scheduled between July 14-30. The Women’s Club World Cup falls just six months after the Women’s World Cup in Brazil (June 24 to July 25, 2027).
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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