Women’s Champions Cup: Teams, prize money and how to watch | OneFootball

Arsenal win the UEFA Women’s Champions League (Arsenal.com)

The finals of the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup get underway on Wednesday, with Arsenal one of four teams vying to lift the trophy.

Below, SheKicks provides all the information you need to know about FIFA’s newest competition.

What is the Women’s Champions Cup?

The Women’s Champions Cup features six continental champions from across the world, including Champions League winners Arsenal.

Four teams will compete to win the inaugural tournament, taking place between January 28th and February 1st, with all games scheduled to be held in London.

Arsenal and Brentford host the tournament, with the semi-finals to be held in Brentford, before the third-place playoff and final take place at Arsenal’s home ground.

Three teams automatically qualified for the semi-finals, while another team had to qualify to reach this stage of the tournament.

The tournament started in China in October, with Wuhan Jiangda beating Auckland United FC 1-0. Wuhan then travelled to play AS FAR in Morocco last month, with the African side winning 2-1 in extra time.

The Women’s Champions Cup will take place every year in which the Women’s Club World Cup does not take place.

Which teams are in the Champions Cup?

Already eliminated

Women’s Champions Cup schedule

Arsenal could win the Women’s Champions Cup on home soil

What prize money is on offer?

FIFA revealed on Friday that the Women’s Champions Cup winners will earn £1.7 million.

This is the most amount of money handed as a single award in women’s football history.

The team that loses the final will earn £735,000, while the two sides that lose in the semi-finals will each earn £147,000.

Wuhan Jiangda and Auckland United FC have both left the tournament with £73,500 each.

In the Women’s Champions League, the winning team gets roughly £434,000. However, if a team wins every game from the start of the league phase until the final, the total winning prize would be around £1.7m.

Women’s Champions Cup trophy

Arsenal legend Alex Scott helped unveil -the Women’s Champions Cup trophy last week.

“It’s incredible to see the first-ever FIFA Women’s Champions Cup come to life here in London, bringing together champions from every continent to compete on a truly global stage,” said Scott.

“Having dedicated my life to football, I know how important moments like this are. The talent on show will be world class and I hope it inspires the next generation to dream even bigger. This is a defining moment for women’s club football and I’m proud that London is at the heart of it.”

FIFA Women’s Champions Cup trophy

How to watch the tournament?

Sky Sports won the rights to show the Champions Cup in the UK and Ireland.

Reports in November initially indicated that FIFA were struggling to find a broadcaster to show the tournament.

The Guardian said the BBC and Sky Sports were both offered the rights but initially showed “little interest”.

Sky though have taken up the rights with their coverage set to feature Izzy Christiansen, Caroline Barker, Natalie Gedra, Ellen Ellard and Courtney Sweetman-Kirk

Outside of the UK and Ireland, most territories will have to watch the tournament on DAZN.

Izzy Christiansen will be part of Sky Sports’ coverage of the Women’s Champions Cup (Photo by Jess Hornby/Getty Images)

How is the tournament different to the Club World Cup?

Some fans might be confused at what the difference is between the Women’s Champions Cup and the Club World Cup.

The Club World Cup, which will debut in January 2028, is almost an expanded Champions Cup, which will feature 16 teams and only run every four years.

However, the tournament won’t just feature winners of continental tournaments.

Arsenal are expected to feature as one of five European teams to compete in 2028. Champions League winners in 2026 and 2027 are likely to join the Gunners. as well as the next best-ranked eligible UEFA teams.

As things stand, the top five sides in UEFA’s women’s club rankings are Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Arsenal.