Real Madrid and Manchester City are among the high-profile European names in Thursday's draw, but Salzburg's participation is a little more surprising.
The draw for the 'new and improved' 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will take place on Thursday (December 5), with 32 teams taking part in the opening event in the United States between June 15 and July 13 next year. While few will be shocked to see Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich among the European entrants, RB Salzburg's qualification may have surprised some.
The club, owned by energy drinks company Red Bull, has won 14 of the last 18 Austrian league titles, including 10 in a row between 2013/14 and 2022/23. Last season they surprisingly finished second behind Sturm Graz, with whom they will play in the competitive phase of the 2024/25 Champions League.
Despite their domestic dominance, their European record is nothing to write home about, but it was still enough for them to qualify for the upcoming Club World Cup.
How did teams qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup?
Qualification for the tournament varies by confederation (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC), although clubs qualified either by winning their confederation's top club competition or by virtue of their ranking within their confederation over the previous four-year period.
Europe provides 12 of the 32 participants, four of which are the winners of the four most recent Champions Leagues (between 2020/21 and 2023/24), while the remaining eight theoretically come from the UEFA club rankings. However, as Real Madrid won the Champions League twice during that time, a ninth European club qualified based on their rankings.
Also important to note is that no more than two clubs from the same country are allowed, unless more than two clubs from that country have won the Champions League in the last four years (which has not happened).
How did RB Salzburg qualify for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?
Salzburg obviously haven't won the Champions League in any of the last four seasons, meaning they qualified because of their club rankings. That's despite reaching the UCL round of 16 just once and descending to the Europa League twice, falling at the first hurdle both times.
The Austrians are the main beneficiaries of Madrid's two Champions League victories and the two-club-per-country rule. Salzburg were 18th in the table at the end of 2023/24, but the teams above had either already qualified for the Club World Cup or were from a country that had already hosted two qualifying tournaments.
Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and AC Milan were all ahead of Salzburg in the table, but their route to the tournament was blocked by the qualification of two other homegrown teams.
The Austrian club will therefore participate in the tournament in the US as the ninth and final UEFA qualifier based on their club ranking.
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