When is the next international break? FIFA match calendar, important dates for World Cup qualification, Nations League 2024/25

The 2024 European Championship and the Copa America may have only ended in mid-July, but the next international break is already upon us: just a few weeks after the start of the new domestic season in Europe.

While the international break is often boring for club football fans, those who follow their national teams at home and away look forward to these days as they support their nation at matches. The next FIFA international break in September is certainly worth watching: there are World Cup qualifiers for fans of South American, Asian and African countries, while teams from Europe and North America play Nations League matches.

There will be frequent international breaks in the 2024/25 season, with interruptions in September, October and November, as well as in March 2025.

Another tournament will take place in June before the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where Mexico will try to defend its title.

Sporting News has the details of FIFA’s international match calendar below.

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When is the next international break?

The next international break will take place from 2 to 10 September 2024That’s just under three weeks since the start of the new club season.

All international breaks 2024/25: Schedule of transfer windows for World Cup qualification and Nations League

Below you will find a list of the dates of the international match calendar for the coming year up to and including the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June 2025.

The September window will see the Nations League matches of UEFA (Europe) and CONCACAF (North America), as well as the next round of World Cup qualifiers of CONMEBOL (South America), CAF (Africa) and AFC (Asia).

The group stage of the UEFA Nations League will be played during the semester breaks in September, October and November. The quarter-finals and play-offs are scheduled for March 2025, with the finals following in June.

At this point, the Nations League matches are the only confirmed fixtures for Europe, with the draw for the continent’s World Cup qualifiers still pending.

Since 16 places are available for European teams for the expanded 2026 World Cup, in which 48 nations are participating, the qualification process will also be adjusted. There will be 12 groups, with the winners automatically qualifying and the runners-up entering a playoff round. In addition, there will be the four best-placed teams from the Nations League that did not reach the top two places in their qualifying groups.

The third round of AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place from 5 September 2024 to 10 June 2025.

The 18 teams that advanced from the second round, including nine group winners and nine runners-up, were divided into three groups of six teams each. These teams will compete in a home and away format. The top two teams from each group will qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the third and fourth placed teams will advance to the fourth round.

CONCACAF has also confirmed the schedule, venues and kick-off times for the 2024/25 CONCACAF Nations League group matches in September 2024. The competition will involve 41 national teams from three leagues (A, B, C) and will be played during the FIFA international tournament windows in September, October and November 2024.

The final will take place next March.