In a meeting before the 74th FIFA Congress, FIFA officially set the date for the first Women’s Club World Cup.

The 16-team tournament will take place in January-February 2026, and be held every four years after that.

Initial plans for the Women’s Club World Cup were revealed in May 2021, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino calling it part of a plan to “revolutionize” the women’s game.

On Wednesday, Infantino called it “crucial” to build on the success of last summer’s World Cup.

The FIFA council also unanimously approved a new, less condensed international match calendar designed to provide more time between national team commitments.

The hope is that the new schedule will increase opportunities for rest and recovery for both players and coaches.

The current international calendar has forced some teams to balance back-to-back workloads between the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021), 2022 European Championships, 2023 Women's World Cup, 2024 Olympics, and another Euros in 2025.

On Wednesday, Infantino said that rectifying the international calendar is another step on a path to enhancing the level of competition across the board.

"The Women's International Match Calendar and the subsequent amendments to our regulations represent an important milestone in our pledge to take the women's game to the next level by enhancing competitiveness across the world," he said.