February is primed to be a hectic month in women’s international football, with key qualifying matches set to take place for the Olympic Football Tournament at Paris 2024 and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024™.

Here, FIFA provides a breakdown of the schedule for a month jam-packed with high-stakes clashes.

۲۰۲۴ Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship
۱-۱۱ February

The top U-17 women’s national teams in North America, Central America and the Caribbean will go head-to-head to crown a continental champion and determine which two sides will represent the region at the U-17 Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Dominican Republic later this year. For the moment, only the host nation (also members of Concacaf) and New Zealand are guaranteed a spot at the tournament.

Eight teams will meet in Mexico, then, in the Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship. They will be divided into two sections, with Mexico, Haiti, Costa Rica and El Salvador in Group A, and the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and Panama in Group B. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the semi-finals, while the two finalists will book a ticket to the U-17 Women’s World Cup.

CAF FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024 qualifiers
۲-۱۰ February

Africa will also be staging qualifying matches for the U-17 Women’s World Cup. The first leg of the second round will take place on 2 and 4 February, with the return matches scheduled for 9 and 10 February. Nigeria, one of two African teams to have qualified six times, as well as traditional powerhouses Cameroon and South Africa (two appearances each), will all take part.

The nations that emerge victorious from these two-legged ties will advance to the third round. The names of the three qualifiers for the World Cup will not be known till June, however, when the fourth and final round takes place.

OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament
۷-۱۹ February

Eight teams harbour hopes of representing Oceania at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament at Paris 2024, but just one will gain that right: the winner of the qualifying tournament in Samoa. Group A consists of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and American Samoa, while Group B features New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu. Two semi-finals and a final will follow, at the conclusion of which the triumphant team will be able to pack their bags for Paris.

Australia (prior to making the switch to the AFC) and New Zealand are thus far the only two Oceanian nations to have starred at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

CAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament third round
۱۹-۲۸ February

Just two rounds remain until the two African representatives at the 2024 Olympic Games are determined. While the identity of that pair will not be known until the culmination of the fourth round in April, the third round in February will certainly narrow the field, with four exciting two-legged fixtures on the agenda: Ghana-Zambia, Tunisia-Morocco, Cameroon-Nigeria and Tanzania-South Africa.

Of these eight teams, Ghana, Morocco, Tanzania and Tunisia have never competed in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. Nigeria can boast the most appearances (three), but their last outing at the Games dates back to 2008.

UEFA Women’s Nations League Finals
۲۳-۲۸ February

The international break in February will see Europe designate its two representatives for Paris 2024. On 23 February, in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Nations League, world champions Spain will take on the Netherlands in Cadiz, while Germany make the trip to Lyon to play France.

The two finalists will book a place on the flight to Paris, and the eventual winners will lift the inaugural Nations League trophy. However – as Les Bleues have already qualified for the Olympics as hosts – should France reach the final, the match for third place on 28 February will dictate the second UEFA representatives at the Games. Out of the four semi-finalists, only Spain have never previously participated in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. Germany, meanwhile, secured the gold medal at Rio 2016 and earned a bronze on three further occasions (2000, 2004, 2008).

۲۰۲۴ AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament
۲۴-۲۸ February

At the end of February, two Asian teams will join France, USA, Canada, Brazil and Colombia at the Olympic Games, via two-legged encounters between Uzbekistan and Australia (in Tashkent and Melbourne) and Korea DPR and Japan (in Pyongyang and Tokyo).

Unlike the three other contenders, the Uzbeks have never qualified for the Games. China PR are the Asian team with the highest number of Olympic Tournament appearances (six), but they were eliminated in the previous round.

Concacaf W Gold Cup
۲۰ February-10 March

There are no Olympic qualifiers required for Concacaf and CONMEBOL sides in February, because their representatives (USA, Canada, Brazil and Colombia) were already ascertained through the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, the Concacaf Play-off in 2023 the 2022 Copa America Femenina. That said, the senior women’s teams from these two regions will certainly welcome the opportunity to play in a dress rehearsal for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, and they will get that chance at the first-ever Concacaf W Gold Cup.

A total of 12 teams will take part in this brand-new tournament: USA, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica from Concacaf will be joined by CONMEBOL guests Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay. Three more Concacaf teams will come on board after negotiating single-match play-offs on 17 February. The three ties in question are Haiti-Puerto Rico, El Salvador-Guatemala and Guyana-Dominican Republic.