London will host the final phase of the inaugural six-team Women's Champions Cup tournament early next year, FIFA confirmed Thursday in a news release.
Arsenal will be Europe's representatives in the tournament after their Champions League success last season.
The tournament, which involves the winners of the premier women's club competition in each of the continental confederations, will be played between Jan. 28 and Feb. 1, FIFA said. The venue in London has yet to be confirmed.
The competition was approved by FIFA Council in March this year.
The final phase features four matches: two semifinals, a third-place match and the final.
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.
The NWSL, represented by current Concacaf champions NJ/NY Gotham FC, pushed host the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup.
"We've expressed our interest in being the leader in this space in all respects," NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told ESPN in June, confirming that they had "offered to host."
But multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday that UEFA champion Arsenal's league schedule became a driving force in London hosting the FIFA event.
Chelsea host Arsenal in a league match with title implications that will take place on Jan. 25, three days before FIFA's semifinals.
A source close to the decision said London was selected for its history of supporting women's soccer and its established hosting record for club competitions.
"This is an exciting opportunity for our club, and we look forward to competing on a global stage," a spokesperson for Gotham FC said.
The Women's Club World Cup was originally planned to debut in 2026 but will now launch in 2028.
The 2028 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.
Information from PA was used in this report.