FIFA has confirmed that the Women's Club World Cup, originally planned to debut in 2026, will now launch in 2028, with world soccer's governing body announcing that an inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup will now debut in 2026.
The FIFA Council ratified the new tournaments at a meeting on Wednesday.
The Women's Club World Cup, originally put forward as an idea by FIFA president Gianni Infantino in May 2021 before being confirmed by the FIFA Council in late 2022, is set to include 13 direct qualifiers from across the six confederations and three teams via a play-in. It will take place every four years from 2028 onwards.
For the first edition, UEFA will have five places in the 16-team group stage, with CAF, CONMEBOL, AFC and Concacaf each having two teams earning guaranteed entry. The OFC will have no direct qualifiers.
Six clubs representing the AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, the OFC and UEFA will take part in the play-in stage.
That is subject to change as the competition develops after the 2028 version. No host or time period has yet been agreed.
"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," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a FIFA statement.
"Following extensive consultation with key stakeholders, the inaugural edition will take place in 2028 and will feature a total of 19 clubs, allowing for a competitive and an inclusive format based on the sporting merit accumulated at global level through the new FIFA Women's Champions Cup in the previous two years."
The 2026 Women's Champions Cup will be a six-team tournament and will be hosted by a location in Europe, North America or South America, sources told ESPN. It will feature the winners of each of the confederations' club championships and is set to take place from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 2026.
It will become an annual competition for the years in which there is no Women's Club World Cup.
The winners of the UEFA Women's Champions League, brand new Concacaf Champions League and Women's Copa Libertadores will qualify automatically for the semifinals, while the winners of the CAF, AFC and OFC competitions will play each other in two rounds of knockouts in order to reach what FIFA have dubbed the "Final Four" stage.
Meghann Burke, executive director of the NWSL's Player Association, told ESPN that the organization had concerns over the planning of the new Club World Cup with regards to prize money, sponsorship and scheduling.
"Conceptually, the NWSLPA welcomes the opportunity to answer the question of who the best league in the world is where it needs to be settled: on the field," she said.
"However, the lack of planning, lack of consideration to workload management and schedule compaction and lack of broadcast or sponsorship considerations, not to mention their failure to adequately fund prize money, compound the problems we are already trying to solve.
"FIFA needs to involve its stakeholders, like the NWSLPA and NWSL, for an event like this to reach its potential. Otherwise, they are hamstringing women's football yet again like they've done since time immemorial."
ESPN has reached out to global player's union FIFPRO for comment.
The men's Club World Cup, which has existed in some guise since 2000, is set to launch in its latest form in the United States in June this year and include 32 teams. It has faced considerable criticism over placing extra demands on an already congested calendar, with FIFPRO launching a legal dispute against world football's governing body.
"These are more than just new tournaments -- these are drivers for the future of our sport that will raise standards, provide invaluable opportunities for growth and local development, and generate new revenue -- all on a global scale," Jill Ellis, FIFA's chief football officer and former U.S. women's national team coach, said in a statement.
"We thank the confederations, clubs, leagues, players and all stakeholders for their open dialogue and support, as well as the FIFA Council for taking the final decision to give women's club football an unprecedented global stage on a truly historic day that will redefine the women's game".