The year 2024 will be packed with lots of football tournaments. The year’s biggest sporting event (not just football) is the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Paris.
2024 will kick start with both the AFC Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations, while Euro 2024 and the Copa America will be held in the summer.
However, there are also numerous football competitions to watch out for next year.
In this article, TOP SOCCER BLOG enumerates 20 major football tournaments coming up in the year 2024.
1. 2023 AFC Asian Cup
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of Asia’s quadrennial international men’s football championship, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 2019, with Qatar as the defending champions.
Due to the high summer temperatures in the Persian Gulf and Qatar’s participation in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the tournament was postponed to the 12th of January to the 10th of February 2024.
2. 2023 AFCON
The 2023 African Cup of Nations will be the 34th edition of the biennial African football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) .
Ivory Coast will host it for the second time, and the first since 1984. The competition has featured the greatest African football legends.
This edition of the tournament was initially planned to be the third since 2019 to take place during the summer in order to reduce scheduling conflicts with European club teams and competitions.
However, it was postponed by CAF to the 13th of January to the 11th of February 2024 in July 2022 due to the adverse summer weather concerns in Ivory Coast, whilst retaining the edition’s original name for sponsorship purposes.
This followed the 2021 edition in Cameroon also being moved to the winter for similar reasons.
Senegal are the defending champions.
3. 2024 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship
The 2024 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship will be the 8th edition of the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONCACAF for the women’s under-17 national teams of the North, Central American and Caribbean region.
It will be hosted by Mexico from the 1st to the 11th of February 2024, while being contested by 20 teams.
The top three teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup as the CONCACAF representatives, alongside the Dominican Republic, which is the host of the World Cup.
4. 2024 AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup
The 2024 AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup will be the 11th edition of the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC U-20 Women’s Championship and AFC U-19 Women’s Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the women’s under-20 national teams of Asia.
It will be held in Uzbekistan between the 3rd to the 16th of March 2024. A total of eight teams will compete in the tournament.
Moreover, the top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia as the AFC representatives.
Japan are the defending champions.
5. 2024 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup
The 2024 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup will be the 9th edition of the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC U-17 Women’s Championship and AFC U-16 Women’s Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the women’s U-17 national teams of Asia.
It will be held in Indonesia between the 7th to the 20th of April 2024. A total of eight teams will compete in the tournament.
The tournament’s top three teams will qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic as the AFC representatives.
Japan are the defending champions.
6. 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
The 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup will be the 6th edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup (previously the AFC U-23 Championship before rebranding from 2021), the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men’s under-23 national teams of Asia.
The tournament will be held from the 15th of April to the 3rd of May 2024 in Qatar.
Furthermore, the tournament will act as the AFC qualifiers for the 2024 Summer Olympics men’s football tournament.
The top three teams of the tournament would qualify for the Olympics in France as the AFC representatives, while the 4th-best team will play an AFC–CAF play-off match for qualification.
A total of 16 teams will compete in the tournament.
Saudi Arabia are currently the defending champions.
7. 2024 UEFA Women’s U-17 Championship
The 2024 UEFA Women’s U-17 Championship will be the 15th edition of the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for Europe’s women’s under-17 national teams.
Sweden will be hosting the tournament from the 5th of May to 18.
The matches will be played in Malmö and Lund. 16 matches will be played in Malmö IP, Malmö and 16 matches will be played in Klostergårdens IP, Lund.
A total of eight teams will be playing in the tournament, with players born on or after the 1st of January 2007 eligible to participate.
In the final 2023, France won their first title by defeating Spain 3-2.
Additionally, this tournament will act as UEFA’s qualifier for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic, with the winner, runner-up, and third-placed teams qualifying as the UEFA representatives.
8. 2024 UEFA European U-17 Championship
The 2024 UEFA European U-17 Championship (also known as UEFA U-17 Euro 2024) will be the 21st (40th edition, if the Under-16 era is also included) of the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men’s under-17 national teams of Europe.
Cyprus will be hosting the tournament from the 20th of May to the 5th of June 2024.
A total of 16 teams are playing in the tournament, with players born on or after the 1st of January 2007 eligible to participate.
Germany, having won the title in 2023, are the title holders, after reaching the final match and won against France with penalties. They won their fourth title.
9. 2024 Europa League Final
The 2024 UEFA Europa League final will be the final match of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League, the 53rd season of Europe’s secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 15th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The match will be played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on the 22nd of May 2024.
The winners will earn the right to play against the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League winners in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup.
10. 2024 UEFA Conference League Final
The 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final will be the final match of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League, the third season of Europe’s tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
It will be played at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, Greece, on the 29th of May 2024.
The winners will qualify to enter the group stage of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League unless they have already qualified for the Champions League or Europa League through their league performance (in which case the access list will be rebalanced).
11. 2024 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2024 UEFA Champions League final will be the final match of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League, the 69th season of Europe’s premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 32nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs’ Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
It will be played at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on the 1st of June 2024.
Due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, the final hosts were shifted back a year, with London hosting the 2024 final instead.
Moreover, the winners will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup.
12. UEFA Euro 2024
Germany will host the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from the 14th of June to the 14th of July 2024, and the winner will later compete in the 2025 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions against the 2024 Copa América winner.
The tournament will return to its usual four-year cycle after the 2020 edition was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Italy are the defending champions, having won the 2020 tournament after beating England on penalties in the final.
13. 2024 Copa America
The 2024 Copa América will be the 48th edition of the quadrennial international men’s soccer championship organized by South America’s football ruling body, CONMEBOL.
The tournament will be held in the United States and co-organized by CONCACAF. The United States will host the tournament for the second time, having hosted the Copa América Centenario in 2016.
The tournament will be held from the 20th of June to the 14th of July, 2024, and the winner will later compete in the 2025 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions against the UEFA Euro 2024 winner.
Argentina are currently the defending champions.
14. 2024 UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship
The 2024 UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship will be the 21st edition of the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the women’s under-19 European national teams.
Lithuania will host the tournament from the 15th to the 27th of July 2024.
A total of eight teams are playing in the tournament, with players born on or after the 1st of January 2005 eligible to participate.
15. 2024 UEFA European U-19 Championship
The 2024 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2023) will be the 21st edition (71st edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included) of the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men’s under-19 national teams of Europe.
Northern Ireland will host the tournament from the 15th to the 28th of July 2024.
A total of eight teams will play in the tournament, with players born on or after the 1st of January 2005 eligible to participate.
Similar to previous editions held in even-numbered years, the tournament acted as the UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The top five teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup as the UEFA representatives.
Italy are the defending champions, being crowned champions for the 4th time after beating Portugal 1-0 in the final.
16. 2024 Summer Olympics (Football)
Hosted in the French capital, Paris, next summer, the 2024 Olympic Games will take place over a two-and-a-half week period between the 26th of July and the 11th of August.
Despite not starting officially until the 26th of July, football at the Olympics will kick off on the 24th of July for the men’s and the 25th of July for the women’s tournament.
The tournaments which include 12 and 16 nations competing in the women’s and men’s competitions, respectively.
At Paris 2024, the women’s competition will, for the first time ever, close the Olympic Football Tournaments.
The gold medal match of the men’s tournament will take place on the 9th of August, while the women’s final will occur on the 10th of August.
17. 2024 UEFA Super Cup
The 2024 UEFA Super Cup will be played at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland, on the 14th of August 2024.
It will be contested by the winners of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League and the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League.
18. 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup
The 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will be the 11th edition of the biennial international women’s youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA.
Colombia will host it from the 31st of August to the 22nd of September 2024.
Furthermore, it will be the third time that Colombia has hosted a FIFA tournament. It will also be the first time that Colombia has hosted a FIFA women’s tournament.
On the 4th of October 2023, FIFA decided to expand of the tournament to 24 teams.
Spain are currently the defending champions.
19. 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup
The 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be the 8th edition of the biennial international women’s youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA.
The tournament will take place from the 16th of October to the 3rd of November 2024.
It will be hosted by the Dominican Republic. It will be the first time that the Dominican Republic has ever hosted a FIFA tournament.
Spain are the two-time defending champions.
20. Arabian Gulf Cup
The 2024 Arabian Gulf Cup will be the 26th edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation.
The tournament will be held in Kuwait in December 2024 and contested by eight teams.
