The 2026 FIFA Women's Champions Cup was the first edition of FIFA Women's Champions Cup organised by FIFA. The tournament featured the champion clubs from each of the six continental confederations, playing each other in a single-elimination bracket, to determine the world's premier women's club team. The winners received million, the biggest-ever single award in women's club football.
Stage 1 matches were played in the home stadium of a team involved in each match, and stage 2 was played in London, England.
Format The competition involved six teams, each representing one of FIFA's continental confederations, playing in a single-leg, single-elimination format. The format was similar to the format of the men's FIFA Club World Cup until 2023: Stage 1 Round 1: The champions of the AFC Women's Champions League hosted the champions of the OFC Women's Champions League. Round 2: The champions of the CAF Women's Champions League hosted the winner from Round 1. Stage 2 (centralised location) Semi-finals: The Round 2 winners advanced to play the champions of the UEFA Women's Champions League, while the champions of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup faced the champions of the Copa Libertadores Femenina. Final and third place play-off: The semi-final winners contested the final, and the losers played in the third place play-off.
Prize money The winners received million, described by FIFA as the biggest-ever single award in women's club football. The runners-up received $1million, the losing semi-finalists each received $200,000, the losers in Round 2 received $150,000 and the losers in Round 1 received $100,000.
Qualified teams
TeamConfederationQualificationQualified dateEntering in the semi-finals Gotham FCCONCACAFWinners of the 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup24 May 2025 CorinthiansCONMEBOLWinners of the 2025 Copa Libertadores Femenina18 October 2025 ArsenalUEFA24 May 2025Entering in the second round AS FARCAFWinners of the 2025 CAF Women's Champions LeagueEntering in the first round Wuhan JiangdaAFCWinners of the 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League24 May 2025OFCWinners of the 2025 OFC Women's Champions League17 May 2025
Venues On 2 October 2025, London was appointed by the FIFA Council as the host of stage 2. Gotham FC had also offered to host in New York. London's selection was reportedly due to Arsenal's busy league schedule around the time of the matches.
+WuhanBerrechidLondonWuhan Five Rings Sports CenterBerrechid Municipal StadiumBrentford Community Stadium Emirates StadiumCapacity: 30,000Capacity: 5,000Capacity: 17,250Capacity: 60,704
Matches
Round 1
Round 2
Semi-finals
Match for third place
Final
Goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Alessia Russo Arsenal2 Olivia Smith Arsenal Gabi Zanotti Corinthians4 Stina Blackstenius Arsenal1 Mariona Caldentey Arsenal Caitlin Foord Arsenal Khyah Harper Gotham FC Jiang Chenjing Frida Maanum Arsenal Gotham FC Sanaâ Mssoudy AS FAR Midge Purce Gotham FC Hajar Saïd AS FAR Jaedyn Shaw Gotham FC Victória Corinthians Wang Shuang Wuhan Jiangda Arsenal
Broadcasters FIFA+ provided free streaming coverage worldwide of stage 1. DAZN and FIFA+ provided free streaming coverage worldwide for stage 2, apart from in the following territories (mainly the home markets of the semi-finalists): TerritoryBroadcasterBrazilCazéTVChinaCCTVIrelandSky SportsUnited KingdomMoroccoSNRTUnited StatesCBS Sports Golazo Network (third place match and final only)
Reception Since its creation was approved and its dates confirmed in March 2025, the brand new tournament faced many challenges in organisation and in gaining public and commercial interest. A lack of media interest led to broadcasters for stage 2 only confirmed two weeks before it began. While London was announced as host in October 2025, the announcement of the venues came only on 12 December. FIFA also struggled with arranging commercial partnerships, only securing sponsorships days before the semi-finals. Among them is presenting partner Kynisca, which is a multi-club ownership organisation. The partnership raised concerns over conflict of interest given the possibility of one of its clubs participating in future editions. 25,031 people attended the final, around 11,000 fewer than Arsenal's average attendance for the season up to that day. In Brazil, over one million people watched CazéTV's broadcast of the final. The semi-finals had poor attendance, partly owing to their unusual kick-off times.
Concerns were raised over the fairness of the competition. Despite the initial announcement of the competition having stage 2 to be played at a neutral venue, the final was held in Arsenal's home ground. Arsenal were in the middle of their domestic season and could train at their own facilities. Some other teams were in their preseason and had to manage disruptions to transfer window activity and logistical issues over player availability. To prepare for the competition, Gotham FC, in their preseason, held a three-week training camp in Spain out of pocket. This meant rearranging their usual NWSL season preparations to protect player welfare. Ultimately, Gotham FC lost their semi-final and their prize money could not offset their preparation expenses. For Arsenal, the timing of the competition was inconvenient in a congested calendar and raised concerns over player workload. AS FAR and Corinthians had visa issues resulting in some players arriving in London later than the rest of the teams. Ahead of the final, Arsenal academy players were spotted watching Corinthians train at the Hive. The incident was reported by Corinthians to FIFA.
See also 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup
References
External links