Over the last several weeks, we have completely revolutionised women’s international football. We have expanded the Women’s World Cup qualifiers into a two year spectacle that gives more nations than ever before the opportunity to play more football than ever before. We have expanded the confederations’ women’s tournaments into dramatic showcases that elevate the women’s game still further. And we have introduced thrilling new tournaments that ensure that female footballers of all nations remain active participants in the game.
The GoobNet Women’s International Timetable and Schedule for Advancing World Football and Unifying Leagues comes in cycles of two years. Each cycle ends in the months of June and July in an odd year, during which time the major women’s international tournaments are held. In a year that is one greater than a multiple of four, the confederation championships, such as the Women’s European Championship, the Women’s Asian Cup, and the Women’s Copa América, are played. In a year that is three greater than a multiple of four, the Women’s World Cup is played, consistent with current practise.
In the two years prior to each of these tournaments, there are a number of international dates intended for the qualifiers for these tournaments. We have used the current women’s international calendar as a basis for our proposed timetable of international dates. In all, we have fourteen dates per year as follows:
The qualifiers for the major international tournaments complete in the November of the previous year, and the following international dates in January through April are available for friendly matches.
Furthermore, the women’s Olympic football tournament is played in each year that is a multiple of four.
Most importantly, we again remind FIFA that international matches are to be played on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Friday is not the weekend.
For illustrative purposes, we have shown all of the confederation championship tournaments taking place simultaneously in JUN-JUL 2021. The confederations may choose to schedule them at another time in 2021 if necessary.
For example, CONCACAF may wish to hold the Women’s Gold Cup in October so as not to conflict with the NWSL season. If so, the preliminary round of Women’s World Cup qualifiers may have to move to AUG-SEP 2021.
We regret that we have been unable to accommodate the Algarve Cup, an annual tournament held in Portugal that has run for more than twenty years. However, if the organisers of the Algarve Cup are willing to hold the tournament every two years instead, we can move it to the February-March international dates of odd years. It would therefore become an important preparatory event for the major international tournaments.
Below is how our proposed calendar would look for the 2019-23 period.
