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I’ve made a separate article here listing all the international tournaments that will be taking place in 2023
With Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty kick securing a 3rd World Cup title for Argentina the curtain has fallen on international football in 2022. It’s going to be pretty tough to beat the drama of the incredible Argentina vs France final but there’s still plenty to look forward to in a busy 2023 for international football. I’ve compiled a list of when the international breaks are scheduled to take place and what will be happening within them. Some of the breaks particularly at the end of the year will seem a bit empty at the moment but this list is just what is confirmed at the moment. I will update the article as and when confederations confirm what more will be happening
First break- March 20th till March 28th
Euro 2024 Qualifiers
This is the first scheduled international break of 2023. In this window the first two match days of qualifying for Euro 2024 will take place. 53 European nations will enter qualifying in the hopes of taking one of the 23 other spots available for Euro 2024. With Germany being the host nation they qualify automatically. Current holders Italy will be looking to bounce back after the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2022 Fifa Qatar World Cup.
CONCACAF Nations League
The group phase of the Concacaf Nations League will conclude. At the end of this window we will know which 4 teams will compete in the Nations League finals in June. But more importantly the final standings of the Nations League groups will decide which teams qualify for the Gold Cup, and which teams will participate in the Gold Cup preliminary rounds due to take place in June.
AFCON 2023 Qualifiers (2023 AFCON Re-Scheduled for 2024)
Matchdays 3 and 4 of the AFCON qualifiers are scheduled to take place in this window.
CONMEBOL 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (South America)
Although the fixtures are yet to be confirmed, qualification for the 2026 World cup is scheduled to start for South America in March.
Second break- June 12th till June 20th
UEFA Nations League Finals
The second International window of the year will see the finals of the European Nations League take place. The four League A winners which are The Netherlands, Spain, Croatia and Italy will compete to be crowned the Nations League champions. The Semi finals will be played on the 14th and 15th of June, with the final and third place play off both being played on the 18th of June. The draw will take place at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon at 10:00 GMT on Wednesday 25th January.
Euro 2024 Qualifiers
Matchdays 3 and 4 for the Euro 2024 qualifiers are scheduled to take place in this window. For the 4 teams competing in the Nations League Finals their matches will be rearranged to a later date.
CONCACAF Nations League Finals
The final 4 of the Concacaf Nations League will also take place in this window however the official dates are yet to be confirmed. And the 4 teams that will be competing will be decided in the previous international break in March.
AFCON 2023 Qualifiers
In this window matchday 5 of the AFCON 2023 qualifiers will take place.
CONCACAF Gold Cup Preliminary Round
The one big continental tournament that is happening in 2023 is the Gold Cup which you can read about in my list of international tournaments article. However before the Gold cup starts we have the preliminary round to decide who takes the final 3 spots in the Gold Cup. Earlier in this article I mentioned that the Concacaf Nations League standings will decide who competes in the Gold Cup. Well the four League C winners, four League B runners up and four league A 3rd place teams make up the preliminary round. The 12 teams will be divided into six pairings, round one fixtures will be played on the 16th and 17th of June. Then the winners of those matches will advance to round two which will be played on the 20th of June. The 3 winners of the round two matches will progress to the Gold Cup Group stage. The image below should help to illustrate the format.
Third break- September 4th till September 12th
Final Matchday of AFCON 2023 Qualifiers
The next international window will come at the start of September where the final matchday of qualifiers for Afcon 2023 (Re-scheduled for 2024) will be played. At this point we will know which 24 teams will compete to be crowned champions of Africa due to be hosted in the Ivory Coast.
Euro 2024 Qualifiers
In September Euro 2024 qualifiers will continue with many teams playing matchdays 5 and 6 however some teams will be playing just the one matchday.
Fourth break- October 09th till October 17th
AFC 2026 World Cup Qualifiers- First Round (Asia)
Here is where World cup qualifying will start for many Asian teams. This is the first round where 22 teams (ranked from 26–47) will play home-and-away over two legs with the winners advancing to round two of World cup qualifying. This is the round where teams such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Timor Leste, Bangladesh etc all enter.
Euro 2024 Qualifiers
In this window matchdays 7 and 8 will be played as we get towards the end of Euro 2024 qualifying
Fifth and final break- November 13th till November 21st
Euro 2024 Qualifiers
In November the final two match days will be played, at this point we will know who has qualified for Euro 2024 and who will have to go through the play offs.
AFC 2026 World Cup Qualifiers- Second Round (Asia)
In this international break the second round of the Asia World Cup Qualifiers will take place, this is when 36 teams (ranked 1–25 and the eleven first-round winners) are split into nine groups of 4 teams. The teams play against each other home and away with the nine group winners and group runners up advancing to the third round of World cup qualifying. This is where the bigger nations such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran etc will enter.
