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, May or June, August or 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]

Upcoming match windows

Men's International Match Calendar

Dates[3]Matches or tournaments
12 January – 10 February 20242023 AFC Asian Cup[lower-alpha 1]
13 January – 11 February 20242023 Africa Cup of Nations[lower-alpha 2]
18–26 March 20242
3–11 June 20242 (Except UEFA)
14 June – 14 July 2024UEFA Euro 2024
15–30 June 20242024 OFC Nations Cup
20 June – 14 July 20242024 Copa América
24 July – 10 August 2024Football at the 2024 Summer Olympics
2–10 September 20242
7–15 October 20242
11–19 November 20242
17–25 March 20252
2–10 June 20252
June – July 20252025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2025 FIFA Club World Cup
1–9 September 20252
6–14 October 20252
10–18 November 20252
2025/20262025 Africa Cup of Nations
23–31 March 20262
1–9 June 20262
TBA – 19 July 20262026 FIFA World Cup
21 September – 6 October 20264
9–17 November 20262

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.[7]

Dates[7]Window type[lower-alpha 3]Number of matches
20 February – 10 March 20242024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup
5 February – 10 March 2024Blocked for final round of OFC Olympic qualification
19–28 February 2024Type II3
1–9 April 2024Type I2
27 May – 4 June 2024Type I2
8–16 July 2024Type I2
25 July – 10 August 2024Women's Olympic Football Tournament
21–30 October 2024Type I or II (except UEFA)2 or 3
25 November – 7 December 2024Type I or III (only AFC)2 or 4
17–26 February 2025Type II3
31 March – 8 April 2025Type I2
26 May – 3 June 2025Type I2
June/July 2025[lower-alpha 4]Type I or II (except UEFA) or
III (only AFC)		2 or 3 or 4
23 June – 3 August 2025Blocked for finals of the CONMEBOL and UEFA championships
20–29 October 2025Type I or II2 or 3
24 November – 2 December 2025Type I2

Notes

  1. ↑ Due to the high summer temperatures in the host country (Qatar), the tournament was postponed from mid-2023 to early 2024.[4][5]
  2. ↑ Due to weather concerns in the host country (Ivory Coast), the tournament was postponed from mid-2023 to early 2024.[6]
  3. ↑ 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. ↑ Window start to be aligned with the release period for the 2025 Copa América Femenina and UEFA Women's Euro 2025

References

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. ↑ "Men's International Match Calendar 2023-2030" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Qatar to stage 2023 Asian Cup, most likely in early 2024". Reuters. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Qatar Wins 2023 Asian Cup Bid Just Over A Decade After It Last Hosted The Tournament". Forbes. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  6. ↑ Southby, Ben (3 July 2022). "Africa Cup of Nations 2023 finals have been postponed and moved to January 2024 due to weather concerns in Ivory Coast". Eurosport. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Women's International Match Calendar 2023-2025" (PDF). FIFA. April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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