September 17 – Concacaf has unveiled a women’s national team competition calendar from 2025 through to 2029 that includes World Cup 2027 and Olympic 2028 qualifiers, a second edition of the W Gold Cup, and the launch of a W Nations League.
The first edition of Concacaf’s breakout W Gold Cup, that saw the top four Conmebol team compete as guests (finalists USA and Brazil met again in the Olympic final in Paris this summer), will not be played again until 2029.
Before then Concacaf’s women’s teams will compete under the linked W Qualifiers and W Championship banners, which will be the qualification path to the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.
The W Qualifiers will serve as the preliminary round of the 2026 Concacaf W Championship and will be played with nations split into six groups with group winners advancing to the 2026 Concacaf W Championship and join pre-qualified USA and Canada. They will play in a five-round direct elimination knockout style competition at a centralised venue in November 2026.
The four semi-finalists qualify directly for the Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027, while the four losers will progress to a Play-In for Concacaf’s two remaining slots in the Women’s World Cup (based on 2023 World Cup allocations).
The finalists will qualify for the 2028 LA Summer Olympics Games – if the USA finish as one of the two W Championship Finalists, Concacaf’s second berth will go to the third placed finisher.
“These tournaments will provide a tremendous boost to women’s football in Concacaf with a consistent calendar of competitions now in place for 2025 to 2029 which delivers all 41 of our federations with opportunities to grow and thrive on and off the pitch,” said Concacaf president Victor Montagliani.
New to the Concacaf W international match calendar will be the addition of the W Nations League to be played after the 2027 Women’s World Cup with group stages in February and April 2028, followed by the Finals in November 2028.
The second edition of the W Gold Cup will take place in the summer of 2029. More details on both competitions will be announced later, said Concacaf.
“We are now five years on from the launch of our Concacaf W women’s football strategy and much progress has been made, from establishing new competitions to celebrating six of our national teams qualifying for and competing at the last FIFA Women’s World Cup, and of course the delivery of countless coaching and development programs that have provided women and girls across our region with opportunities to engage with the sport,” said Montagliani.
“We know there remains much more work to do and we are committed to continuing to support our member federations to develop every level of women’s football in Concacaf.”
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