Revamped Format for Region’s W Champions Cup
Starting on 2027, the W Champions Cup new format will feature 11 clubs, with 16 matches from July to October.
- New format to be implemented beginning with the 2027 edition
- Decentralized structure designed to enhance competitiveness
- Competition to be played continuously from July to October
- The 2025/26 Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals are set for May 20-23 in Pachuca, Mexico
Miami, FL – Concacaf has announced a revamped format for the Concacaf W Champions Cup, its premier women’s club competition featuring the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The new structure, which will take effect beginning with the competition’s third edition in July of 2027, has been designed to enhance competitiveness and streamline the match calendar.
Starting in 2027, the Concacaf W Champions Cup will feature 11 clubs and transition to a decentralized, knockout-only format, eliminating the group stage and centralized Finals. The competition will kick off with a two-stage Preliminary Round (Prelims), followed by home-and-away Quarterfinals and Semifinals, and will conclude with a single-leg Final.
“This new format marks an important step forward for women’s club football in Concacaf,” said Victor Montagliani, President of Concacaf and Vice President of FIFA. “By increasing the importance of every match, reducing gaps in the calendar, and delivering a more consistent competition flow, we are strengthening the overall experience for clubs, players, and fans.
“This evolution also reflects our continued commitment to the growth of women’s club football in the region and our football-first philosophy. We look forward to seeing these changes come to life in what promises to be an exciting 2027 edition,” Montagliani added.
Competition Structure and Dates
The Concacaf W Champions Cup's new format will feature 11 clubs and 16 matches, maintaining a strong number of meaningful fixtures while increasing the stakes of each contest.
The competition will begin with two single-leg Prelims featuring five clubs. Two clubs will compete in the first stage, while the remaining three will enter directly into the second stage based on ranking.
All Prelims matches will be played as single-leg ties, with the higher-ranked club in each matchup hosting. The winners will advance to the Quarterfinals, where they will join six pre-qualified clubs.
The Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be played over two legs (home and away), followed by a single-leg Final hosted by the best-performing team in the competition (based on the Quarterfinals and Semifinals results only).
The revamped competition will feature a continuous schedule across the second half of each year. For the 2027 edition, the Prelims are scheduled for July, followed by Quarterfinals in August, Semifinals in September, and the Final in October.
Specific competition windows for the 2027 edition will be confirmed at a later date.
Qualification
Clubs will continue to qualify through their domestic leagues on the basis of sporting merit, using criteria proposed by Member Associations and approved by Concacaf.
The 11 available qualification slots for the 2027 edition have been assigned as follows:
Prelims entrants (one club each, five clubs in total): Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama.
Quarterfinal entrants (eight clubs in total): Mexico and the United States (three clubs each), and the two Prelims winners.
FIFA Qualification Pathway
The Concacaf W Champions Cup will remain the sole pathway for clubs in the region to qualify for FIFA-organized global women’s club competitions.
Concacaf has been allocated 2.5 slots for the quadrennial FIFA Women’s Club World Cup, with the first edition scheduled for 2028. These berths will be distributed among the winners of the 2024/25 (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 2025/26, and 2027 editions of the Concacaf W Champions Cup.
The winner of the upcoming 2025/26 Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals will also qualify to the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2027.
Further details on the allocation of the remaining FIFA Women’s Club World Cup and FIFA Women’s Champions Cup qualification slots will be confirmed at a later date.
2025/26 Concacaf W Champions Cup
The 2025/26 Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals – the conclusion of the final edition of the tournament under the current format – are set for May 20-23, 2026, and will be hosted at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico. The Semifinal matchups – which will pit Club América Femenil against NJ/NY Gotham FC, and Washington Spirit against CF Pachuca Femenil – were determined by the results of the tournament’s Group Stage, with the group winners facing the runners-up from the opposite group.
The Group Stage saw 10 clubs – three from NWSL (USA), three from Liga MX Femenil (Mexico), and one from each of the domestic leagues of Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama – divided into two groups of five clubs each, with each club playing every club in their group once. The five-week Group Stage took place from late August to mid-October.
Tickets are now available for the Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals at Estadio Hidalgo. Fans can purchase individual match tickets and ticket packages via the following links:
- Semifinals Package:
https://boletomovil.com/evento/semifinales-concacaf-w-champions-cup-2026-05-20 - Full Package:
https://boletomovil.com/evento/paquete-concacaf-w-champions-cup-2026
In the inaugural edition of the Concacaf W Champions Cup in 2024/25, NY/NJ Gotham FC claimed the title by defeating the Tigres UANL Femenil 1-0 in the Final.
