FIFA release five-year International match calendar

World football’s governing body, FIFA, has announced the International Calendar for the period of 2025-2030 for men and 2024-2025 for women. which covers the next phase of FIFA events, including the 2026 World Cup.

The FIFA executive committee met in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to deliberate on major issues in the football world, including the adoption of a match calendar for men’s and women’s international football.

They announced that the men’s international break would occur as follows during the five-year period: 

There will be a nine-day, two-match window in March and another nine-day, two-match window that will serve to provide a chance for friendly matches in preparation for final tournaments where appropriate. 

Another international break will happen between late September and early October and will feature a 16-day, four-match window that will start in 2026 and two nine-day, two-match windows until September and October 2025. 

A final international break will happen in November, which will feature a nine-day, two-match window. 

They also announced dates for the 2026 World Cup, whose final will be on the 19th of July, 2026. 

On the women’s end, there will also be six unspecified international windows per year, including the 2024 Women’s Olympics, which will go on from the 25th of July to the 10th of August.