WSL faces January fixture squeeze over 2028 Women’s Club World Cup plans

Arsenal and potentially Chelsea could be away from domestic football for up to a month during the 2027-28 Women’s Super League season because of the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup, according to the Guardian. The newspaper reports that proposed dates of 5-30 January 2028 would overlap with league fixtures, while the expected choice of the United States as host would add transatlantic travel to European clubs’ schedules.

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FIFA has not yet confirmed the qualification criteria, and the reported arrangements still require approval from its council. The Guardian nevertheless reports that Arsenal are assured of a place through their 2025 Champions League victory. Chelsea are also expected to qualify, although that prospect depends on the outcome of this season’s European competition: a Manchester City title would exclude Chelsea under FIFA’s planned two-club limit for each country.

The proposed European allocation would give UEFA five automatic places and a sixth entry into a preliminary competition involving six teams. Three clubs from that event would advance to join 13 automatic qualifiers in a 16-team tournament. According to the report, European places would go to Champions League winners from 2023 to 2027, with remaining spots determined by UEFA’s club coefficient rankings. Chelsea currently sit third in the relevant four-year table, behind Barcelona and Lyon.

The domestic consequences could extend beyond the league. Using the current season’s calendar as a comparison, the Guardian estimates that a lengthy Club World Cup campaign could cause the English participants to miss four WSL rounds and the FA Cup’s fourth round. That is a projection rather than a confirmed list of postponed matches, but it identifies the scale of the scheduling problem facing organisers.

The WSL declined to comment because it had not yet been informed of FIFA’s plans, the newspaper said. This season’s winter break runs from 21 December to 10 January. Although a modest adjustment is possible, aligning the whole break with the international club tournament is not considered practical within the crowded calendar. Rescheduled league games would also compete for space as Champions League knockout matches begin in early February.

A further demand on players will follow later in 2028, when Los Angeles stages an Olympic women’s football tournament expanded to 16 national teams. Senior internationals are eligible, and the August event falls shortly before the European domestic season begins. The Guardian reports that European Leagues has already extended its complaint to the European Commission about FIFA’s alleged abuse of its dominant position to cover the women’s game.