A new yearly tournament that will take place every year when there is no Club Women World Cup. Only six teams involved the Champions League winners from each confederation. I think it is great: "The preliminary stage will consist of the AFC champions first hosting the OFC champions in round 1 with the winner visiting the CAF champions in round 2. The winners of round 2 will progress to the semi-finals to face the UEFA champions, while the Concacaf champions will play the CONMEBOL champions. The Final Four, comprising the semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final, will take place on the following dates: FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2026: 28 January 2026 to 1 February 2026 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2027: 27 January to 31 January 2027 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2029: 24 January to 28 January 2029" This is very biased for the 2026 tournament version with UEFA, Concacaf and Conmebol getting a bye to the semi-finals.
Quite... but AFC has no TV market intrested in women's football thus FIFA is forcing UEFA vs. CONMEBOL/CONCACAF for the final clash in hope that big names like ie. Chelsea or Corinthians will bring money from TV rights.
I could bet on DAZN getting those rights on the cheap by buying them alongside the CWWC 28 rights like they did for the men CWC.
The teams that can qualify for the 2026 tournament: @Ambroz256 we are still on course for the dream final Kampala Queens v Tupapa Maraerenga pic.twitter.com/DxUV41swjS— Wosoworld (@karlyboy71) March 6, 2025
Not giving a real "full spot" to OFC sure makes sense, but it's not clear why AFC gets the short end of the stick: let's make the reasonable assumption that getting rid of OFC Champions' is just a formality; it's anyway an additional game the AFC's champions' have to play. And, after that, they have to play another one if they want to get to the semifinals? If FIFA didn't want to give a full spot to CAF, why not making tham clash vs another one of the remaining federations, instead of giving the longest path ever to AFC? Or is it me who haven't grasped some part of the format of the competition?
Yes, you are right the AFC champions have been punked. They play the OFC champion first and then the CAF champions who will be strong. All that to then play the UEFA champions league winner at a clear disadvantage.
All that while South America, a continent that's always been marginal to women's football apart from Brazil, gets the semifinals right away. I suppose that's because of CONMEBOL's relevance in men's football, but it doesn't really make sense that in women's football that they're so better-regarded than AFC
More information on the seeding The seeding for the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2027™ will be determined by the results of the 2026 edition. The 2027 instalment will be held from Wednesday, 27 January to Sunday, 31 January. The seeding for the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2029™ will be subject to further consultation. The 2029 edition will be played from Wednesday, 24 January to Sunday, 28 January. And the timeline for qualification FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2026 qualification timeline: continental club competition finals AFC Women’s Champions League: 24 May 2025 CAF Women’s Champions League: 23 November 2025 Concacaf W Champions Cup: 24 May 2025 CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina: 18 October 2025 OFC Women’s Champions League: 17 May 2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League: 24 May 2025
The current teams remaining in competition: UEFA: Barcelona, Lyon, Arsenal, Chelsea AFC: Incheon Red Angels, Melbourne City , Wuhan Jiangda, Ho Chi Minh City Concacaf: Tigres, Thorns, America, Gotham CAF: multiple teams CONMEBOL: multiple teams OFC:multiple teams
Conmebol grew its women's club competition since 2011, years before others even started. What have AFC and CCAF done to justify a bye? As shown below, both AFC and CCAF lacked proper continental women's club tournaments until recently. The level of club participation in CAF tournament editions justifies CAF hosting its knockout match, as well. So, why has AFC delayed so much on growing its women's continental club tournament? Club participation in each confed women's tournament: tournament season ( participating teams / members in confederation) a) OFC: 2024(8/11), 2023(5/11) b) AFC: 2024-25(22/47), 2023(8/47), 2022(5/47), 2021(4/47), 2019(4/47) c) CAF: 2024(36/54), 2023(37/54), 2022(33/54), 2021(33/54) d) CBOL: 2024(16/10)...2019(16/10), 2018(12/10)...2011(12/10), 2010(10/10), 2009(10/10); played every year even during pandemic years. e) CCAF: 2024-25(11/35) f) UEFA: 2024-25(71/55)...2001-02(33/52)
Teams who can qualify for the tournament UEFA: Barcelona, Arsenal AFC: Incheon Red Angels, Melbourne City , Wuhan Jiangda, Ho Chi Minh City Concacaf: Tigres, Thorns, America, Gotham CAF: multiple teams CONMEBOL: 16 teams OFC: 8 teams