Calacus Monthly Hit & Miss – FIFA Women's Club World Cup

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FIFA WOMEN’S CLUB WORLD CUP

The journey toward a Women's Club World Cup has been marked by anticipation, setbacks, and renewed commitment.

As FIFA recently announced the postponement of the inaugural tournament to 2028, we find ourselves at a critical juncture in women's football history.

This delay represents both challenges and opportunities in the ongoing struggle for gender equality in the world's most popular sport.

Women's club football has existed in the shadows of the men's game for decades.

While the men's Club World Cup dates back to 2000 (evolving from the Intercontinental Cup established in 1960), women's clubs have never had a comparable global tournament to showcase their talents on the world stage.

The 2019 Women's World Cup in France marked a watershed moment for the women's game, drawing unprecedented global attention and demonstrating the commercial viability of women's football.

Following this success, FIFA President Gianni Infantino first proposed the creation of a Women's Club World Cup in July 2019, signalling a potential shift in how the governing body viewed women's club competitions.

The initial announcement was met with enthusiasm from players, clubs, and fans alike, representing not just a new tournament, but a symbolic acknowledgment of women's football's growing stature.

FIFA initially set 2021 as the target for the inaugural tournament, only to see those plans derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

FIFA announced plans to create the tournament in 2021, but failed to outline a format or start date.

In May 2024 FIFA announced the tournament would start in 2026, with a proposed 16-team format that would bring together champions from across FIFA's six confederations.

However, in a significant development in March 2025, FIFA announced another delay, pushing the tournament back to 2028 as part of a broader restructuring of women's club competitions, including the introduction of an intermediate step – the FIFA Women's Champions Cup – scheduled to begin in January 2026.

According to FIFA's announcement, this new Champions Cup will feature the champions from the top eight women's football nations competing in a knockout format, serving as a bridge to the full Club World Cup in 2028.

The repeated delays to the Women's Club World Cup highlight the persistent challenges in achieving sporting gender equality in football.

A December 2024 report by FIFPRO, the global players' union, identified significant disparities between men's and women's professional football.

The report revealed that while FIFA has committed substantial resources to the men's Club World Cup, with a prize pool exceeding $1 billion for the 2025 tournament, women's competitions receive comparatively minimal investment and increased challenges related to player workload and the already congested international calendar.

While FIFA has announced an unprecedented $1 billion prize pot for the expanded men's Club World Cup, the details regarding the financial rewards for the women's equivalent have been less forthcoming – something they will need to navigate from a communications perspective to balance expectations with reality

But the unequal distribution of resources extends beyond prize money.

Despite recent growth, women's clubs typically operate with smaller budgets, less developed infrastructure, and fewer professional staff. Players often face precarious employment conditions, with many forced to maintain second jobs alongside their football careers.

Media coverage and commercial sponsorship also remain heavily skewed toward men's football, creating a cycle where women's competitions struggle to attract the visibility needed to drive commercial growth. With lower significant media exposure, generating substantial revenue becomes challenging, which in turn affects investment in the women's game.

Progress has been made to address some aspects of inequality. In 2022, the United States women's national team secured a historic equal pay agreement after a lengthy legal battle. Similar movements have emerged in countries like England, Spain, and Australia, where players have advocated for improved conditions and equal treatment.

However, clubs and governing bodies face increasing legal risks if they fail to address equal pay and treatment issues.

Despite the frustration caused by repeated delays, the 2028 Women's Club World Cup represents a pivotal moment for women's football, providing formal recognition that women's club football deserves the same global showcase as men's.

A well-executed tournament could also serve as a catalyst for increased commercial investment in women's club football. By demonstrating the global appeal of elite women's clubs, the competition could attract sponsors and broadcasters who have traditionally focused primarily on men's football.

The tournament should also drive development in regions where women's football remains underfunded. The possibility of qualifying for a global competition provides incentive for investment at confederation and national levels.

Beyond the sporting aspects, the tournament offers a platform for addressing broader gender equality issues in sport and society, giving visibility for female athletes who can inspire the next generation.

FIFA's decision to introduce the intermediary Champions Cup before launching the full Club World Cup represents a pragmatic approach to building toward 2028.

This approach may allow for the development of commercial models and operational experience that can benefit the full tournament when it eventually launches.

However, the success of both the Champions Cup and the eventual Club World Cup will depend on meaningful investment and promotion.

As Brila.net noted in their March 2025 analysis, FIFA's approach represents a "big gamble" that will require sustained commitment rather than just symbolic gestures.

For the 2028 Women's Club World Cup to truly advance sporting gender equality, it must receive comparable resources, media attention, and commercial support to the men's equivalent.

This means not just staging the tournament, but investing in its success through substantial prize money, global broadcasting arrangements, and marketing campaigns that position it as a premier sporting event.

The path to 2028 offers an opportunity to address the structural inequalities that have limited women's football – and an opportunity that FIFA must ensure they do right.

By establishing professional standards, creating sustainable economic models, and providing elite competition, the Women's Club World Cup could become more than just another tournament – it could represent a fundamental shift in how women's football is valued, supported, and celebrated globally.

The successful establishment and flourishing of the FIFA Women's Club World Cup holds immense significance for the future trajectory of women's football and for FIFA's standing as a global governing body committed to gender equality.

Seeing the best club teams in the world compete on a global stage will provide inspiration and role models for young people, further elevating women's football in the global sporting landscape.

The journey has been longer than expected, but the destination promises to be worth the wait – a world where football's global club competitions reflect true sporting gender equality.