After winning two major continental competitions this year, Gotham FC defender Jess Carter is eager to kick off 2026 with global glory at the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™.
In May, Carter helped the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club secure their place in the first edition of FIFA’s new flagship women’s club football competition with their victory over Mexican outfit Tigres to lift the Concacaf W Champions Cup. Two months later, she followed up that success with England who retained their UEFA Women’s EURO title in impressive fashion.
Now the 27-year-old — who collected a runners-up medal with England at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Australia and New Zealand — has set her sights on securing her first global title in the upcoming FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, which will bring together the six continental club champions from the full season preceding the tournament.
Gotham FC have been drawn against CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina champions Corinthians in the semi-finals, which will take place in London in late January 2026. Other participants include UEFA champions Arsenal, Round One winners Wuhan Jiangda WFC and the CAF Women’s Champions League 2025 winners, which will be determined in late November.
Ahead of the tournament, the former Birmingham City and Chelsea defender spoke to FIFA about the prospect of facing old rivals Arsenal once again, Gotham’s preparations and the wider impact the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup could have on women’s football worldwide.
Jess Carter: At this club we want to start winning more trophies and we want that to be part of our DNA. Every competition we take part in, we aim to win. So it’s a great thing to win my first trophy with the club but also compete on a wider stage… I’ve been able to do that in Europe and now I’m able to do that over here. So it’s a great thing for myself and the club.
The weather! It was crazy hot… The atmosphere was great. The fans didn’t like us much over there but I think it created a really great atmosphere. Being part of the celebrations with a new competition to win, that as a whole was really great. But I definitely remember the fans being very loud which was pretty cool.
Just getting to play against the best in the world. I think every player wants to be on that stage, playing against the best opposition. And by being in competitions like this, that is what we get to do.
There are a few things about the competition (that represent challenges), one being the travel, and two, we’re not in-season, so it cuts our off-season very short. But we’re getting to play against the best in the world, so there are going to be very big differences in terms of the way oppositions play and we’re going to have to be very adaptable with our tactics in order to get successful results against those opponents.
It does definitely help because getting to play against different types of players and teams allows us to have experiences and share those experiences with one another to help us be successful.
I’m kind of sick of facing Arsenal, I have done so for the past ten years! Obviously, they are a great team with great players so I know that they will be great opposition and a challenge. I’m personally tired of facing them, but I think a lot of players will look forward to playing a team from England.
Hopefully, it will continue to grow the women’s game and make it more accessible and visible for people to watch. That is the key thing to having more fans at the women’s game, showcasing what we can do from different parts of the world and putting that in front of their eyes. So hopefully that will encourage more fans to come out and experience the games and enjoy them.
