Tremendous boost: Concacaf to introduce expanded women’s football competitions

By Sports Desk September 17, 2024

Concacaf is set to expand the women’s national team competition calendar over the next four years as it strives for continued growth and development of the women’s game in the region.

In an effort to build on the successful delivery of the inaugural Women’s Gold Cup, as well as the recently added Women’s Club Competition, which is currently ongoing, Concacaf is set to introduce additional competitions, some of which will serve as qualifiers for major tournaments between 2025 and 2029.

Concacaf, in a release on Monday, revealed that the revamped women’s national team ecosystem will provide a consistent calendar of competitions for all Concacaf federations, providing their women’s national teams with regular opportunities to compete on the regional and global stage.

Tournaments will include a new qualifying tournament in 2025 that will serve as the preliminary round of the 2026 Concacaf Women’s Championship, which will serve as the qualification path to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. There will also be the introduction of an inaugural Concacaf Women’s Nations League in 2028 and a second edition of the Women’s Gold Cup.

Concacaf president and FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani said the additional competitions augur well for women’s football in the region.

“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. We are now five years on from the launch of our CONCACAF W women’s football strategy, and much progress has been made,” Montagliani said.

“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.

“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,” he added.

The new qualifying tournament will be played during the FIFA Women’s International Match Windows of October and November 2025 and February and April 2026. 

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