With so many international women’s championships now running in parallel, keeping track of the calendar can feel like a full-time job. Here’s the shape of the year.
Spring: Rugby and Cricket Set the Tone
The Women’s Six Nations opens the international calendar each spring, running from mid-April to mid-May and culminating in a title race that has become one of women’s sport’s biggest single-day draws, as covered in our rugby fixtures guide. Cricket’s 2025–2029 ICC Women’s Championship runs continuously in the background, with bilateral ODI series between the world’s top sides carrying qualification weight for the next 50-over World Cup.
Summer: Football Takes Center Stage
- The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations runs through late July and August, with 2026’s expanded 16-team format raising the stakes considerably
- The Hundred Women’s Competition gives cricket fans a fast-paced domestic alternative during the same window
- The Diamond League’s European leg, including Rome, Paris, London and Zurich, reaches its peak in the summer months
Late Summer Into Autumn: Athletics and Marathons
The Diamond League season concludes with a two-day final in Brussels on 4–5 September, closing out a 15-meeting series that we break down fully in our Diamond League guide. Around the same time, the World Marathon Majors shift into their busiest stretch, with Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York all following in quick succession, detailed in our World Marathon Majors guide.
Building Your Own Calendar
The overlaps are real — WAFCON’s final weekend lands the same month as the Diamond League’s European swing — so prioritizing by personal interest matters more than trying to follow everything at once. For a curated shortlist, see our best women’s sporting events for fans guide. Bookmarking a handful of anchor dates, rather than trying to track every fixture, is the easiest way to stay on top of a genuinely global calendar.