FIFA International Match Calendar

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 their 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
21 December 2025 – 18 January 2026	2025 Africa Cup of Nations
23–31 March 2026	2
1–9 June 2026	2[a]
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

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[b]	Number of matches
23 February – 5 April 2026	Blocked period[c]
24 February – 7 March 2026	Type II	3
1–21 March 2026	2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup
17 March–3 April 2026	2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations
7–18 April 2026	Type II	3
1–9 June 2026	Type I	2
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[c] (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[c] (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[c]
15–23 October 2029	Type I	2
27 November – 8 December 2029	Type II	3

Notes

1. Reserved for friendlies in preparation for the subsequent FIFA World Cup
2. In 2025, 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.^[4] Starting in 2026, players are released to national associations either from Monday to Tuesday night of the following week (Type I) or from Tuesday to Saturday night of the following week (Type II).^[5]
3. Final competition of the championships for women’s “A” representative teams of the confederations (including release period)