The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to begin on June 11, and with the UEFA Champions League final now concluded — widely seen as the end of Europe’s club season — there is a gap of competitive fixtures before the tournament kicks off.
Top-level match action is already scheduled. A full slate of European Women’s World Cup qualifiers takes place this week, including Spain vs. England, a rematch of the last two major tournament finals. On June 9, Netherlands vs. Poland is listed to stream live on ESPN+ in the U.S., according to ESPN.
Youth and fringe international tournaments will also fill the calendar. The Maurice Revello Tournament, formerly known as the Toulon Tournament and regarded as a prominent youth event in men’s football, opens May 31 with China’s under-20s facing Saudi Arabia’s U23s.
There are alternative competitions beyond FIFA and UEFA events. The CONIFA European Football Championship, for teams unaffiliated with UEFA or FIFA, will be held in Insubria, a cross-border region between Italy and Switzerland, and features entrants including Padania and Canton Ticino. Greenland, denied UEFA membership after a rule change restricting membership to sovereign states and rejected by Concacaf in a unanimous vote of its 41 members in summer 2025, will compete in CONIFA. The group stage runs June 2-4 with each team playing two matches, followed by placement games on June 6 to determine final standings.
Another regional tournament starting the same day the CONIFA Euros end is the Baltic Cup, a competition dating to 1928 and thus two years older than the World Cup. The tournament traditionally pits Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania against one another and often includes a guest nation; the Faroe Islands, which debuted in 2024, will participate again. Semifinals are scheduled for June 6, with Lithuania hosting Latvia in Kaunas and Estonia hosting the Faroe Islands in Tallinn.
Meanwhile in Spain, the Segunda División has not yet finished. The final LaLiga2 fixtures occur on May 31, with four teams still set for promotion playoffs as they compete for places in Spain’s top tier.
