Two FIFA Women's World Cup™ winners have told an event in London that the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup™ will have a profound effect on the women's game by encouraging development around the world. Back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup winner and Olympic Gold medalist Tobin Heath was reunited with her former US coach and now FIFA’s Chief Football Officer, Jill Ellis, to speak on a panel in London, organised by Women in Football (WIF) and Brentford FC. They said the tournament will herald a new era for the club game.

The final stages of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, which features the champion club teams from each continental federation, are taking place in London, featuring Arsenal Women FC (England), ASFAR (Morocco), Gotham FC (United States) and SC Corinthians (Brazil). The semi-finals were played at Brentford Stadium on Wednesday 28 January, with the third-place play-off and final at Arsenal Stadium on Sunday 1 February. OFC representatives Auckland United FC of New Zealand and AFC representatives Wuhan Chegu Jiangda WFC of China PR also participated and were eliminated in previous rounds.

“I love the growth of the game and I am also extremely jealous because I would have (loved) to have played in a competition like this. This is continuing to grow the women’s game in a substantial way and gives us a real understanding of how these teams stack up against each other. It also introduces us to new teams, new players and new superstars,” said Tobin Heath. “This is going to move the needle in the women's global game and to see these four teams in the semi-final is going to be really exciting.” Jill Ellis described it as “a new era of women’s football” with the creation of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup and the FIFA Women’s Club World Cup™ motivating confederations to launch their own club competitions. The OFC Women’s Champions League was launched in 2023, while the Concacaf W Champions Cup and the AFC Women’s Champions League both started in the 2024-2025 season.

“That alone is transformation,” Jill Ellis said. “Competitions like this help us raise professional standards, strengthen pathways, and elevate the entire women’s football ecosystem,” she said. “From now on, a women’s club intercontinental champion will be crowned every year, with a world champion crowned in 2028. And that matters. No matter where a young girl is from, she can now dream of being a world champion.”

Announcing that FIFA will invest in female coaches across England as part of a landmark legacy programme for the competition, she said there was a desperate need for more women in coaching. “There are simply not enough women in coaching. Not due to a lack of talent or ambition, but largely due to limited access, opportunity, and no clear pathways,” she said. “Globally, only 22% of club head coaches in professional women’s football are women. Closing the gap is not only a matter of equity as it is central to unlocking the full potential of our sport.”

Alexandra Dallas, Brentford FC Director, said that “by hosting these semi-finals, we’ve been able to give thousands of children and young people in our local area an opportunity to see incredible women’s talent play right here, on their doorstep.” She added: “It’s that visibility that’s so important. We all know that. We’ve had some wonderful feedback from local headteachers and community leaders who we’ve been working with and giving opportunities to their groups.”