FIFA will enforce a new rule requiring women's national football teams to have a female head coach or assistant ahead of the 2027 World Cup. The new rule requires each team competing in FIFA competitions to have at least two female staff members on their bench, with one being a head coach or assistant. The new regulation will start at the Under-20 World Cup in Poland in September before being rolled out at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
The rule will also apply to FIFA's club competitions, the Club World Cup and the Champions Cup. At the 2023 World Cup, England's Sarina Wiegman was one of just 12 women head coaches. Seven of those 12 teams from the 2023 World Cup are now managed by men.
Argentina, Colombia, France, Haiti, Morocco, and the Philippines all took part in the 2023 World Cup and had no female coaching staff. FIFA will follow UEFA's footsteps, as UEFA has had a similar policy in place since 2020-21. The expansion of this rule to club competitions underscores FIFA's commitment to increasing female representation across all levels of women's football.
This initiative is part of broader efforts to promote gender equality in the sport, addressing a significant gap where many top women's teams are coached by men. The phased implementation allows teams time to adjust and recruit qualified female coaching staff, starting with youth tournaments before reaching the senior World Cup.