FIFA International Match Calendar

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The FIFA International Match Calendar (sometimes abbreviated as the FIFA Calendar) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental football confederations, the European Club Association, and FIFPro, [1] which sets out which dates can be used for "official" and "friendly" international matches. Individual periods of these dates are commonly referred to as "international breaks".

Contents

The current dates are within five windows: in March, June, September, October, and November. The match calendar also determines when international competitions such as the AFC Asian Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, Copa América, CONCACAF Gold Cup, OFC Nations CupUEFA European Championship, FIFA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics can take place.

Official matches have a release period of four days, which means that players can take up to four days away from club duties to partake in national team duties. If a player participates in an official match on a different continent from his or her club's, the release period is five days. Friendly matches are deemed less important and the release period is 48 hours. [2]

FIFA insist that official and friendly matches take precedence over domestic matches. However, they state that international friendlies that take place outside the designated dates do not. [2]

The calendar was first used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Upcoming match windows

Men's International Match Calendar

Dates [3] Matches or tournaments
11–19 November 20242
17–25 March 20252
2–10 June 20252
14 June – 6 July 2025 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1–9 September 20252
6–14 October 20252
10–18 November 20252
21 December 2025 – 18 January 2026 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
23–31 March 20262
1–9 June 20262
11 June – 19 July 2026 2026 FIFA World Cup
21 September – 6 October 20264
9–17 November 20262
15 January – 8 February 2027 2027 AFC Asian Cup
22–30 March 20272
7–15 June 20272
June – July 2027 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup
20 September – 5 October 20274
8–16 November 20272
20–28 March 20282
29 May – 6 June 20282
June – July 2028 2028 OFC Men's Nations Cup
2028 Copa América
UEFA Euro 2028
18 September – 3 October 20284
13–21 November 20282
19–27 March 20292
4–12 June 20292

Women's International Match Calendar

The women's international match calendar sets out which dates can be used for "official" and "friendly" women's international matches.

The current dates are within six windows: in February or March, April, June or July, September, October, and November. [4] [5]

Dates [4] Window type [lower-alpha 1] Number of matches
21–30 October 2024Type I (all) or II (except UEFA)2 or 3
25 November – 7 December 2024Type I (all) or III (only AFC)2 or 4
17–26 February 2025Type II3
31 March – 8 April 2025Type I2
26 May – 3 June 2025Type I2
June/July 2025 [lower-alpha 2] Type I (all), II (except UEFA), or
III (only AFC)
2 or 3 or 4
2–27 July 2025 UEFA Women's Euro 2025
12 July – 2 August 2025 2025 Copa América Femenina
20–29 October 2025Type I (all) or II (except UEFA)2 or 3
24 November – 2 December 2025Type I2
23 February – 5 April 2026BLOCKED PERIOD (Final competition of the championships for women’s “A” representative teams of the confederations (including release period), except UEFA)
24 February – 7 March 2026Type II3
7–18 April 2026Type II3
1–9 June 2026Type I2
13 July – 23 August 2026BLOCKED PERIOD (Final competition of the championships for women’s “A” representative teams of the confederations (including release period), except UEFA)
5–13 October 2026Type I2
24 November – 5 December 2026Type II3

Notes

  1. Players are released to national associations from Monday to either Tuesday night (Type I), Wednesday night (Type II), or Saturday night (Type III) of the following week.
  2. Window start to be aligned with the release period for the 2025 Copa América Femenina and UEFA Women's Euro 2025

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References

  1. "International match calendar – major step made towards final agreement". FIFA.com. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Release of players for national association representative matches in accordance with the Coordinated International Match Calendar" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  3. "Men's International Match Calendar 2023-2030" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Women's International Match Calendar 2024-2025" (PDF). FIFA. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  5. "Women's International Match Calendar 2026-2029" (PDF). FIFA. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.