Six months after Chelsea won the newly-expanded men’s Club World Cup, FIFA is expanding its footprint in the club game with the inaugural edition of the Women’s Champions Cup, the first tournament of an ecosystem the organization hopes will revolve around a first-of-its-kind Women’s Club World Cup.
While the first Women’s Club World Cup is currently slated for the winter of 2028, FIFA will proceed with the smaller, annual Women’s Champions Cup that acts as a counterpart to the men’s Intercontinental Cup. The first-ever Women’s Champions Cup kicks into high gear on Wednesday with two semifinals at the Brentford Community Stadium, home of Premier League side Brentford – Gotham FC’s clash with Brazil’s Corinthians and Arsenal’s fixture against Morocco’s AS FAR. The final, plus a third-place match, await on Sunday at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium for the last four teams standing.
The new FIFA tournament will serve as a first official measuring stick for how teams from different continents in the women’s game will stack up against each other, at least partially satisfying the curiosity of many who have wondered how NWSL teams fare against Europe’s top sides. A matchup between UEFA Women’s Champions League winners Arsenal and Concacaf W Champions Cup victors Gotham is not a guarantee – each of them have to face off against fellow continental champions to earn a fixture against each other.
Here’s what you need to know about the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup semifinals.
FIFA Women’s Champions Cup semifinal TV schedule
All times U.S./Eastern
Wednesday, Jan. 28
Gotham FC vs. Corinthians, 7:30 a.m. (DAZN, FIFA+)
Arsenal vs. AS FAR, 1 p.m. (DAZN, FIFA+)
How they qualified
Arsenal, Gotham and Copa Libertadores winners Corinthians qualified directly for the semifinals, while CAF Women’s Champions League victors AS FAR made it to London the hard way. The competition technically began in October with a first round match between AFC Women’s Champions League Wuhan Jiangda and OFC Women’s Champions League victors Auckland United. Wuhan 1-0 and booked a meeting with AS FAR in December, with the Moroccan team winning 2-1 in extra time.
Gotham’s upward rise continues in London
Since head coach Juan Carlos Amoros joined Gotham FC ahead of the 2023 NWSL season, the team has gone from strength to strength. They are now two-time league champions and added the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup title last season, thrusting them into a first-ever showcase against global competition. They will target another trophy in London to add to their growing collection
“It would be a dream come true for us to be in this position two games away,” Amoros said. “Something that is very special. It’s been a process of four years it’s taken us to get to this competition. We need to win the [NWSL] championship, go next year around North America to qualify for the semifinal, final. Last season, we were able to win in Mexico and now we’re here. It will be the pinnacle, the top of the mountain [if we win] at this point. But, we also know that there is even more competitions that we want to keep winning.”
They will be dealing with a disadvantage, though – Gotham are technically in preseason mode. The NWSL regular season will not start until March, forcing them to begin preseason earlier than their domestic opponents. They have been training in Spain since the start of the new year and traveled to London in the days leading up to Wednesday’s semifinal, which will be their first match since winning the NWSL Championship the week before Thanksgiving.
Gotham will also be without Esther Gonzalez, an NWSL MVP nominee, while she is on parental leave but many of their heavy-hitters are available for selection. Rose Lavelle, who scored the game-winning goal in November’s championship, will likely play a meaningful role while Jaedyn Shaw might steal the show. The 21-year-old hit the ground running after joining the team in a blockbuster trade in September and coming with three goal contributions in three games during their playoff run. The game against Corinthians offers a unique chance to show off her skills, especially as someone who had formative experiences with Santos’ women’s team as a teen.
“It really shaped me as a player to be honest, seeing the vision on the field, knowing how to combine in small spaces, getting out of them on the dribble and the pass: those are some of my strengths,” she said. “Just being around Brazilian culture, football and futsal, is something I think really helped me build the passion for the game. It’s really where I fell in love with it, I would definitely credit a lot of the way I play to that country.”
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