FIFA International Match Calendar


The FIFA International Match Calendar is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental football confederations, the European Club Association, and FIFPro, 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.
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.
The calendar was first used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Upcoming match windows

Men's International Match Calendar

DatesMatches or tournaments
23–31 March 20262
1–9 June 20262
11 June – 19 July 20262026 FIFA World Cup
21 September – 6 October 20264
9–17 November 20262
7 January – 5 February 20272027 AFC Asian Cup
22–30 March 20272
7–15 June 20272
June – July 20272027 CONCACAF Gold Cup
June – July 20272027 Africa Cup of Nations
20 September – 5 October 20274
8–16 November 20272
20–28 March 20282
29 May – 6 June 20282
June – July 20282028 OFC Men's Nations Cup
June – July 20282028 Copa América
June – July 2028UEFA Euro 2028
18 September – 3 October 20284
13–21 November 20282
19–27 March 20292
4–12 June 20292
June – July 20292029 CONCACAF Gold Cup
24 September – 9 October 20294
12–20 November 20292
18–26 March 20302
3–11 June 20302
June – July 20302030 FIFA World Cup
23 September – 8 October 20304
11–19 November 20302

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.