FIFA International Match Calendar
Association football scheduling agreement
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The FIFA International Match Calendar (sometimes abbreviated as the FIFA Calendar) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental association 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". FIFA insists that official and friendly matches within designated breaks take precedence over domestic matches, so clubs are required to release players to go play with their national teams, while international friendlies that take place outside the designated dates do not take precedence, and clubs may retain players.[2]
The current dates are within five windows: in March, June, July, September-October, and November (men) and February-March, April, June, October, and November-December (women).[3][4] The match calendar also determines when international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Summer Olympics, AFC Asian Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, Copa América, CONCACAF Gold Cup, OFC Nations Cup, and UEFA European Championship can take place. These competitions, which can last for several weeks, often occur during the summer (June-July) break when most club leagues are not playing. But these competitions can occur at other times of year as well, in which case they sometimes conflict with club games and cause players to be absent from their clubs; typically such breaks apply only to specific continental competitions rather than all national teams worldwide, so outside that continent, relatively few players are absent from any one club.
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. Because most breaks include 2-3 games, players take at least 8-12 days away from their clubs. If a player participates in an official match on a different continent from their club's, the release period is five days. Friendly matches are deemed less important and the release period is 48 hours.[2]
The calendar was first used during 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Upcoming match windows
Men's International Match Calendar
| Dates[3] | Matches or tournaments |
|---|---|
| 11 June – 19 July 2026 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
| 21 September – 6 October 2026 | 4 |
| 9–17 November 2026 | 2 |
| 7 January – 5 February 2027 | 2027 AFC Asian Cup |
| 22–30 March 2027 | 2 |
| 7–15 June 2027 | 2 |
| June – July 2027 | 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 2027 Africa Cup of Nations | |
| 20 September – 5 October 2027 | 4 |
| 8–16 November 2027 | 2 |
| 20–28 March 2028 | 2 |
| 29 May – 6 June 2028 | 2 |
| June – July 2028 | 2028 OFC Men's Nations Cup |
| 2028 Copa América | |
| UEFA Euro 2028 | |
| 18 September – 3 October 2028 | 4 |
| 13–21 November 2028 | 2 |
| 19–27 March 2029 | 2 |
| 4–12 June 2029 | 2 |
| June – July 2029 | 2029 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 24 September – 9 October 2029 | 4 |
| 12–20 November 2029 | 2 |
| 18–26 March 2030 | 2 |
| 3–11 June 2030 | 2[a] |
| June – July 2030 | 2030 FIFA World Cup |
| 23 September – 8 October 2030 | 4 |
| 11–19 November 2030 | 2 |
Women's International Match Calendar
Starting in 2026, there are two types of breaks, I and II. Players are released to national associations either from Monday of one week to Tuesday night of the following week (Type I, up to two matches) or from Tuesday of one week to Saturday night of the following week (Type II, up to three matches). Prior to that in 2025, players were 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.
| Dates[5] | Window type | Number of matches |
|---|---|---|
| 25 July – 16 August 2026 | 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations | |
| 5–13 October 2026 | Type I | 2 |
| 24 November – 5 December 2026 | Type II | 3 |
| 23 February – 6 March 2027 | Type II | 3 |
| 13–24 April 2027 | Type II | 3 |
| 7–15 June 2027 | Type I | 2 |
| 24 June – 25 July 2027 | 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup | |
| 4–12 October 2027 | Type I | 2 |
| 23 November – 4 December 2027 | Type II | 3 |
| 21 February – 2 April 2028 | Blocked period[b] (except UEFA) | |
| 22 February – 4 March 2028 | Type II | 3 |
| 4–15 April 2028 | Type II | 3 |
| 29 May – 6 June 2028 | Type I | 2 |
| 10–30 July 2028 | Women's Olympic Football Tournament | |
| 2–10 October 2028 | Type I | 2 |
| 21 November – 2 December 2028 | Type II | 3 |
| 22 January – 4 March 2029 | Blocked period[b] (except UEFA) | |
| 20 February – 3 March 2029 | Type II | 3 |
| 10–21 April 2029 | Type II | 3 |
| June 2029 | Type I | 2 |
| 4 June – 29 July 2029 | Blocked period[b] | |
| 15–23 October 2029 | Type I | 2 |
| 27 November – 8 December 2029 | Type II | 3 |
Notes
- Reserved for friendlies in preparation for the subsequent FIFA World Cup
- Final competition of the championships for women’s “A” representative teams of the confederations (including release period)