The world's elite clubs are soon discovering who they will face in the new FIFA Club World Cup.
All 32 places for the tournament have been filled and the draw will take place in Miami this evening (Thursday) at 6pm UK time. In the previous version of the competition, seven teams from the six FIFA confederations played seven matches over eleven days at one central host.
But the FIFA council decided last year that 32 teams will now head to the United States to compete for the title of world's greatest club team over the past four seasons, cramming 63 matches into just 28 days.
However, no more than two clubs from the same country can participate in the tournament, which starts on June 15 and ends on July 13. There were 12 European clubs that qualified, including the winners of the UEFA Champions League from 2021 to 2024. .
Chelsea and Manchester City won Europe's top competition in 2021 and 2023, already securing the two English spots.
Once the limit of two per country was reached, another club from a country could no longer qualify via the ranking route – only by winning the 2023/24 Champions League. And because both Arsenal and Manchester United failed to do so last season, while Liverpool didn't even participate, none of the three teams will be involved.
That also ruled out the likes of RB Leipzig, Napoli, Barcelona, Sevilla and AC Milan – as they had already missed out on the four-year rankings process. Chelsea, Real Madrid and City qualified via their Champions League victories.
Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Red Bull Salzburg and Atletico Madrid were the other nine European clubs to qualify, thanks to UEFA's four-year ranking system.
The other teams competing from around the world are: Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Monterrey, Seattle Sounders FC, Leon, Pachuca, Al Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Ulsan HD, Al Ahly, Wydad AC, Esperance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns and Auckland City.
The 32nd spot was reserved for a representative of the host country, meaning Lionel Messi will compete with Inter Miami, albeit controversially as Miami was not actually MLS champions.
The 2025 CWC will consist of eight groups of four teams, with the teams playing each other once in the group stage. Two teams from each group will progress to the last 16 in a direct knockout competition, where they will compete for a prize of up to £50 million.
But fans of Arsenal, Liverpool and United need not fear: the next edition of the Club World Cup will take place in 2029.
Comments