All you need to know about World Sevens football

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ByKatharine Sharpe
BBC Sport senior journalist
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Manchester United players pose for a picture in a pyramid formation Image source, Getty
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The third edition of World Sevens will be played in Brentford from 28 to 30 Maay

World Sevens Football (W7F) is a seven-a-side professional women's football competition featuring eight clubs in a 'grand slam' series.

The third edition of the tournament will be played at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium in London from 28 to 30 May.

Bayern Munich won the inaugural competition in May 2025 in Estoril, Portugal, while San Diego Wave won the next tournament in December 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, US.

The eight women's clubs taking part are Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leicester City, London City Lionesses, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

What is the format?

Each team will play between three and five matches, on grass pitches half the size of the usual 11-a-side pitch. Each match will be played over 30 minutes, in two 15-minute halves.

The eight teams will be split into two groups, playing in a round-robin format over the first two days.

Chelsea, Everton, Leciester and London City Lionesses form Group 1, while Aston Villa, Manchester United, Spurs and West Ham make up Group 2.

The top two clubs in each group will advance to the semi-finals, which will be followed by a third-place match and the final.

Teams will have up to 14 players in their squads, with unlimited rolling substitutions allowed.

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Who is funding the competition and what is the prize money?

The tournament was co-founded by American entrepreneurs Jennifer Mackesy and Justin Fishkin.

Mackesy has a minority stake in Chelsea Women and is co-owner of NWSL club Gotham FC.

While previous events in Estoril and Fort Lauderdale provided a prize money pool of $5m (£3.76m) spread among its eight teams, this year's prize pot will be lower, at $1.5m (£1.1m).

The winner will receive $500,000 (£372,000), with $250,000 (£186,000) for the runners-up.

For comparison, Bayern Munich earned £1.8m ($2.5m) in prize money for winning the inaugural tournament.

Teams finishing in the top four have their prize money split evenly, with half of it contractually bound to go to competing players and staff, and the rest distributed as the club chooses.

Melvine Malard of Manchester United celebrates scoring her team's first goal of the inaugural World Sevens with teammate Grace ClintonImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Manchester United took part in the inaugural competition last year and will return for the third edition of the tournament this week

Why has the prize money been lowered?

Prize money is lower for this tournament compared to previous editions as organisers assess where best to distribute funds globally for the competition.

English clubs continue to generate the most revenue in women's football globally, and according to analysis by Deloitte in January, Arsenal top the charts.

Who is playing when?

Thursday 28 May (all times are BST)

  • Chelsea vs Everton 15:00

  • London City vs Leicester 16:00

  • Man Utd vs West Ham 17:00

  • Spurs vs Aston Villa 18:00

  • London City vs Everton 19:00

  • Chelsea vs Leicester 20:00

Friday 29 May

  • Man Utd vs Aston Villa 15:00

  • Spurs vs West Ham 16:00

  • Everton vs Leicester 17:00

  • Chelsea v London City 18:00

  • Aston Villa vs West Ham 19:00

  • Man Utd vs Spurs 20:00

Saturday 30 May

  • Winner Group 1 vs Runner Up Group 2 11:00

  • Winner Group 2 vs Runner Up Group 1 12:00

  • Final 14:30

Where can I watch World Sevens?

The matches can be attended in person at Brentford's ground and there are also streaming options for online viewing.

Most clubs will be streaming the games on their own websites, and UK viewers can also watch every match on Sky Sports.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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