London hosts final stage of the 1st Women’s Champions Cup

Coach Juan Carlos Amorós says Gotham FC already has a league trophy and a confederation title, so, naturally, the next step is an intercontinental championship.

The National Women’s Soccer League club is vying to win the first Women’s Champions Cup in England this week, starting Wednesday when the team will face Brazil’s Corinthians in a semifinal.

“The hunger they have to win is unbelievable. It’s in their nature,” Amorós said about Gotham. “They win one competition and they’re already thinking about the next one.”

UEFA Champions League winner Arsenal plays Morocco’s ASFAR in the late semifinal at London’s Gtech Community Stadium. The championship and a third-place match will take place Sunday at Emirates Stadium with $2.3 million going to the winner. The runner-up takes home $1 million.

Gotham was the surprising winner of the NWSL championship as the eighth seed heading into the playoffs, knocking off No. 1 Kansas City and defending champion Orlando before beating the Washington Spirit 1-0 for the championship.

Gotham qualified for the inaugural FIFA event by winning the first CONCACAF Champions Cup, with a 1-0 victory over Mexico’s Tigres last May.

“This is where we want to be: Competing in the semifinals, competing in the finals, competing to raise another trophy. That’s the standard here at Gotham,” Gotham defender Mandy Freeman said as the team held preseason training in Spain. “We want to not only be the first to win these types of competitions, but to continue that legacy and keep coming back to fight for championships.”

The six-team women’s Champions Cup was created as an intercontinental championship for women’s club teams. It builds on a growing number of regional club competitions, led by the success of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

It also capitalizes on the growth of women’s soccer globally. The 2025 Women’s European Championship in Switzerland set a tournament record in attendance and viewership. At the club level, Barcelona’s victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League final in 2022 at Camp Nou drew a world record crowd of over 91,000.

But the launch of the new tournament has been bumpy. A global broadcast partner for the final stage wasn’t announced until two weeks ago, when DAZN stepped in. Sky Sports will broadcast the matches in England.

FIFA is also introducing a 16-team Women’s Club World Cup, which will launch in 2028 and be played every four years. The new Champions Cup will be held every year, except years when the Club World Cup takes place.

Who qualifies?

The competition includes one representative from each of the six confederations: UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania) and AFC (Asia).

In addition to Arsenal’s qualification through the UEFA Champions League and Gotham’s qualification via CONCACAF’s Champions Cup, Corinthians won the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores Femenina to earn a spot and ASFAR won the CAF Champions League.

Two continental champions were eliminated in earlier rounds: Auckland United from Oceania and Wuhan Chegu Jiangda representing Asia.

The UEFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL competition winners advance to the semifinals directly, while the Africa, Asia and Oceania winners play a knockout round.

Why London?

The NWSL had offered to host, and there were rumors that a West Coast location was considered for the final stage, but Arsenal’s league match against Chelsea on Sunday made that problematic. So London was ultimately chosen.

Prize pool

The total prize pool to be distributed among the six continental champions is $3.9 million. In contrast, Arsenal got some $1.8 million in prize money for winning the Women’s Champions League last season.

The prize money is “a clear statement of the belief in women’s club football and the players, teams and competitions driving its continued rise,” FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström said in a statement.

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