UEFA men’s club competitions and UEFA Women’s Champions League in Japan
Broadcaster secures first ever UEFA Women’s Champions League rights alongside continued coverage of UEFA men’s club competitions.
UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC) that controls and manages the strategic marketing, sales and delivery of commercial rights for UEFA club competitions, has reached an agreement with WOWOW to broadcast UEFA men’s club competitions (UMCCs) and the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) across Japan.
WOWOW, which has aired UMCCs since the 2020/21 season, will celebrate a decade as the home of Europe’s premier club football competitions in Japan under the new deal, which runs until the end of the 2030/31 season. The agreement grants WOWOW rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, UEFA Super Cup and the UEFA Youth League across the country.
In addition, WOWOW will, for the first time, broadcast the UWCL through 2030, beginning with this season’s quarter-finals later this month, featuring Wolfsburg vs OL Lyonnes, Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona, Manchester United vs Bayern München and reigning champions Arsenal vs Chelsea.
The final will be played at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday 23 May 2026.
GROUP B SCHEDULE – USA
Date
Match-up
Kickoff (ET) / TV
Venue
Monday, March 17
USA vs. Bermuda
2:30 p.m. / FS2
Costa Rican Football Federation
Wednesday, March 19
USA vs. Haiti
5 p.m. / FSP
Costa Rican Football Federation
Saturday, March 22
USA vs. Puerto Rico
12 p.m. / FSP
Costa Rican Football Federation
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: This is the second year of this Concacaf qualifying format for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. With the world championship now staged annually and expanded from 16 to 24 nations, instead of a tournament in which the top three Concacaf finishers qualify for the Women’s U-17 World Cup, 12 teams were drawn into three groups of four teams each with the winner of each group and the best second place team qualifying for the World Cup, set for October-November 2026 in Morocco. The next four editions of the tournament will be held in Morocco.
CONCACAF U-17 HISTORY: The U.S. has successfully qualified for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup seven times (2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2024 and 2025). In the most recent iteration of the Concacaf qualification format, the U.S. will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 WWC if they finish first in the group or end the tournament as the best second-place finisher among the three groups.
In previous editions of the tournament where a champion was crowned, the U.S. won the Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship six times (2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022, and 2024). The two Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championships at which the USA finished third – 2010 and 2014, with the USA falling in penalty kicks in the semifinal both times – were both years in which the World Cup was held in Concacaf countries and thus only two berths from the region were up for grabs.
THE CONSISTENT FOUR: Only four different teams have qualified out of Concacaf for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup: The USA (seven times), Mexico (seven times), Canada (seven times) and Costa Rica (one time). Trinidad & Tobago hosted the World Cup in 2010, Costa Rica hosted in 2014, and the Dominican Republic hosted in 2024, thus earning automatic berths to those tournaments.
CLIMBING THE LADDER: The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team had been a launching pad for numerous players who have moved up through the National Team programs to eventually represent the senior USWNT. From 2008-2018, an average of almost three players per U.S. U-17 qualifying squad have gone on to represent the full USWNT.
In fact, a total of 25 players who have played for the USA in the Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship have gone on to earn caps at the senior level, including six who won FIFA Women’s World Cups in either 2015 or 2019. Morgan Brian, Samantha Mewis, Crystal Dunn and Kristie Mewis played for the team that advanced to the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Final in New Zealand.
2026 U-17 WWC QUALIFIED TEAMS SO FAR: Just three countries thus far have qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. In addition to host Morocco, New Zealand and Samoa have qualified from Oceania via the 2025 OFC U-16 Women’s Championship.
JUST GETTING STARTED: This group of U.S. U-17s comes into World Cup qualifying having had three training camps together – one in November of 2025, one in January of 2026 in Spain and another in Spain in February of 2026 where they competed in the MIMA Cup.
