FIFA has confirmed that the United States will host the inaugural Women's Club World Cup, with the tournament scheduled to run from January 5-30, 2028, in the middle of the European domestic season. The governing body approved the new 19-team competition at its Congress in December 2025.
Seven clubs have already qualified by winning continental tournaments over the past two seasons. Women's Super League side Arsenal and current European champions Barcelona are among them, alongside Gotham FC, who currently lead the NWSL. The other qualifiers are Corinthians of Brazil, China's Wuhan Jiangda WFC, Mexican club America and North Korea's Naegohyang.
Along with Arsenal and Barcelona, four more clubs from UEFA will take part, while Asia's AFC, Africa's CAF and CONMEBOL will each send three representatives. Oceania's OFC will contribute one club to complete the 19-team field.
FIFA 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 matches the preparation fee given to teams at this year's men's World Cup.
Dame Sarai Bareman, FIFA's chief women's football officer, said the United States' recent record in staging major FIFA tournaments, combined with strong interest in women's football and elite sporting infrastructure, made it the standout choice to host the new event. She described the tournament as a benchmark for the future of women's football, adding that the seven already-qualified clubs and a dozen more would come together to show the strength and depth of women's club football to a global audience.
The tournament was originally set to launch this year but was pushed back to 2028 after stakeholders in the women's game told FIFA that more time was needed to get it right.
The scheduling has drawn some criticism. In January, a spokesperson for the Women's Super League said the January dates could be catastrophic for the competition and claimed WSL Football had not been consulted by FIFA over the final dates.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman acknowledged what she called the fundamental challenge of scheduling the event. She told The Athletic that not disrupting the NWSL season was a positive, but that clubs such as Gotham FC and other future qualifiers from the league would be competing during their off-season, coming off a break that creates an uneven playing field.
The Women's Club World Cup joins the Champions Cup, which completed its own inaugural edition in January, as the latest addition to FIFA's growing women's football calendar.
The delayed tournament will now fall in the same year and country as the 2028 Olympic Games, scheduled for July 14-30 in the United States, and just six months after the Women's World Cup in Brazil, which runs from June 24 to July 25, 2027.
The new competition adds to the United States' recent run of hosting major tournaments, following the men's Club World Cup, whose first edition was also staged on American soil. The US is additionally expected to co-host the 2031 Women's World Cup alongside Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
