Can Arsenal secure a spot in the inaugural FIFA Women’s Club World Cup? | OneFootball

The inaugural FIFA Women’s Club World Cup is set to kick off in early 2026, and Arsenal women’s team is eager to secure a spot in this historic tournament.

With several qualification routes available depending on the region, the Gunners’ path to the Club World Cup lies in their performance in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

A strong showing in this prestigious competition could see Arsenal join the world’s elite women’s club teams on the global stage.

Arsenal exit the Champions League on penalties [image via Arsenal]

The idea has been in the air for many years as inter-confederation club games have not happened very often in the past. Unofficial competitions were played through the years in Asia and in America, but they were just glorified friendlies. Fans all over the world have been clamouring for the tournament to happen so that the best clubs in the world can be named as well as, importantly for some fans, the best league in the world.

The tournament will happen every four years and the first edition will take place in January-February 2026 with 16 teams taking place. We do not know how the confederation allocation will be set, but FIFA has regularly set the 16-teams tournament with one place for OFC and three places for the other five confederation (CAF, AFC, UEFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL). It makes sense to keep this format as it is very balanced, except for Oceania which is the weakest confederation.

A couple of confederations have already announced that their tournament would be the official qualifying tournament for the Women’s Club World Cup.

CONCACAF the 2024/25 “The W Champions Cup will also be the only path through which Concacaf clubs can qualify for the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup”. Therefore should there three teams qualify for the tournament, they would all come from the 2024/25 competition.

There are 11 teams spread into two groups and a knock-out stage.

Group A: NJ/NY Gotham FC (USA), Tigres Femenil (MEX), CF Monterrey Femenil (MEX), LD Alajuelense (CRC), Frazsiers Whip Football Limited (JAM)

Group B: San Diego Wave FC (USA), Portland Thorns FC (USA), Club America Femenil (MEX), Santa Fe FC (PAN), Preliminary Round Winner (TBC)

Alianza Women FC (SLV) will host the Preliminary Round single-leg match versus Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CAN).

AFC: In Asia, the inaugural tournament will take place with 22 teams. There will be a preliminary round, then three groups of four teams and a knock-out stage. The winners of the competition will also be guaranteed to be Asia’s representatives at the first-ever edition of the FIFA Women’s Club World Cup to be played at the start of 2026.

CONMEBOL: The 2025 Copa Libertadores Femenina should be the qualifying tournament for the Club World Cup.

CAF: The 2025 Women’s Champions League should be the qualifying tournament for the Club World Cup.

OFC: The Women’s Champions League should be the qualifying tournament for the Club World Cup. If, as expected, OFC gets only one slot, the Champions will qualify for the Women’s Club World Cup 2026.

UEFA: The Women’s Champions League 2024/25 should be the qualifying tournament for the Club World Cup. As Arsenal are playing qualifying round one, they are actually eligible to play in the World Cup. Of course, FIFA can use the same bizarre process as the men qualifying mode via club ranking. There is no doubt that the Champions League winner will qualify for the Club World Cup, but we will see how the other slots will be selected.

For the record, Arsenal are currently in seventh place in the five years coefficient ranking with 57.999 while Barcelona are top with 130.633.