The FIFA International Match Calendar (sometimes abbreviated as the FIFA Calendar) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental 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".
The current dates are within five windows: in March, June, September, October, and November. The match calendar also determines when international competitions such as the AFC Asian Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, Copa América, CONCACAF Gold Cup, OFC Nations Cup, UEFA European Championship, FIFA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics can take place.
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. If a player participates in an official match on a different continent from his or her club's, the release period is five days. Friendly matches are deemed less important and the release period is 48 hours.[2]
FIFA insist that official and friendly matches take precedence over domestic matches. However, they state that international friendlies that take place outside the designated dates do not.[2]
The calendar was first used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Upcoming match windows
Men's International Match Calendar
| Dates[3] | Matches or tournaments |
|---|---|
| 11–19 November 2024 | 2 |
| 17–25 March 2025 | 2 |
| 2–10 June 2025 | 2 |
| 14 June – 6 July 2025 | 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 1–9 September 2025 | 2 |
| 6–14 October 2025 | 2 |
| 10–18 November 2025 | 2 |
| 21 December 2025 – 18 January 2026 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 23–31 March 2026 | 2 |
| 1–9 June 2026 | 2 |
| 11 June – 19 July 2026 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
| 21 September – 6 October 2026 | 4 |
| 9–17 November 2026 | 2 |
| 15 January – 8 February 2027 | 2027 AFC Asian Cup |
| 22–30 March 2027 | 2 |
| 7–15 June 2027 | 2 |
| June – July 2027 | 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 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 |
Women's International Match Calendar
The women's international match calendar sets out which dates can be used for "official" and "friendly" women's international matches.
The current dates are within six windows: in February or March, April, June or July, September, October, and November.[4][5]
| Dates[4] | Window type[a] | Number of matches |
|---|---|---|
| 25 November – 7 December 2024 | Type I (all) or III (only AFC) | 2 or 4 |
| 17–26 February 2025 | Type II | 3 |
| 31 March – 8 April 2025 | Type I | 2 |
| 26 May – 3 June 2025 | Type I | 2 |
| June/July 2025[b] | Type I (all), II (except UEFA), or III (only AFC) |
2 or 3 or 4 |
| 2–27 July 2025 | UEFA Women's Euro 2025 | |
| 12 July – 2 August 2025 | 2025 Copa América Femenina | |
| 20–29 October 2025 | Type I (all) or II (except UEFA) | 2 or 3 |
| 24 November – 2 December 2025 | Type I | 2 |
| 23 February – 5 April 2026 | Blocked period[c] (except UEFA) | |
| 24 February – 7 March 2026 | Type II | 3 |
| 1–21 March 2026 | 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup | |
| 7–18 April 2026 | Type II | 3 |
| 1–9 June 2026 | Type I | 2 |
| 13 July – 23 August 2026 | Blocked period[c] (except UEFA) | |
| 5–13 October 2026 | Type I | 2 |
| 24 November – 5 December 2026 | Type II | 3 |
Notes
- ^ Players are 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.
- ^ Window start to be aligned with the release period for the 2025 Copa América Femenina and UEFA Women's Euro 2025
- ^ a b Final competition of the championships for women’s “A” representative teams of the confederations (including release period)
References
- ^ "International match calendar – major step made towards final agreement". FIFA.com. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Release of players for national association representative matches in accordance with the Coordinated International Match Calendar" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ "Men's International Match Calendar 2023-2030" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Women's International Match Calendar 2024-2025" (PDF). FIFA. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Women's International Match Calendar 2026-2029" (PDF). FIFA. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.