Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host country | United States |
Dates | June 15 – July 13 |
Teams | 32 |
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is the planned 21st edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer competition organized by FIFA. The tournament is scheduled to be played in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025. The tournament is planned to be the first under an expanded format with 32 teams, including the winners of the four previous continental championships.[1]
Manchester City is the defending champion.
The FIFA Club World Cup had been an annual event in winter limited to the winners of continental club competitions since its return from hiatus in 2005.[2] As early as late 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino suggested an initial expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and to be rescheduled to June/July to be more balanced and more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors.[3] In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years by 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup.[4] The expanded format and schedule of Club World Cup, to be played in June and July 2021, was confirmed at the March 2019 FIFA Council meeting in Miami.[5][6] China was appointed as hosts in October 2019,[7] but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9]
On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States will host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[10] The host cities for the tournament remain undecided.[11] The 32 teams will be divided into 8 groups of 4 teams with the top 2 teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage.[12] The format will be the same that was used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022.
In January 2024, it was reported that the tournament would take place on the East Coast to be closer to European broadcasters and viewers while also avoiding conflict with the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will also take place primarily in the United States around the same time but on the West Coast.[13]
When Infantino announced in December 2022 that a 32-team version of the tournament in 2025 was still planned, but the proposal would require approval from the six confederations.[14] The proposed expansion was criticized by FIFPRO, a global union of professional players, as well as the World Leagues Forum, which represents professional leagues; both organizations raised concerns about player welfare due to the added fixtures in an already congested playing calendar.[15][16] La Liga—the Spanish top division league—also criticized the plan and said in a statement that it would consider legal action to block the expansion.[17]
The tournament format is generating controversy, with many clubs and national federations opposing its scheduling and accusing FIFA of prioritizing money over the health of the players.[18] The addition of the new FIFA Intercontinental Cup tournament will allegedly generate an overload of competitions and put the health of the players at risk.[19][20][21]
On February 14, 2023, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation for the 2025 tournament based on a "set of objective metrics and criteria". UEFA was awarded the most slots with twelve, while CONMEBOL was given the second most with six. The AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF were all given four slots, while the OFC and the host association were given one slot each.[22] On March 14, 2023, the FIFA Council approved the key principles of the access list for the tournament.[23] The principles are as follows, considering competitions completed during a four-year period from 2021 to 2024:
If a club wins two or more seasons of its confederation's top club competition, additional teams will be determined by a club ranking of the four-year period. A restriction of two clubs per association will be applied, with an exception for champion clubs if more than two clubs from the same association win their confederation's top club competition. The calculation method for the four-year club rankings within each confederation will be based on sporting criteria during seasons completed between 2021 and 2024, and will be finalized after consultation with confederations and stakeholders.[23]
Based on the access list, the following teams have qualified for the tournament:[24][25][26]
Confederation | Team(s) | Qualification | Qualified date(s) | Participation |
---|---|---|---|---|
AFC (4 slots) | Al-Hilal | Winners of the 2021 AFC Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 4th (Previous: 2019, 2021, 2022) |
Urawa Red Diamonds | Winners of the 2022 AFC Champions League | May 6, 2023 | 4th (Previous: 2007, 2017, 2023) | |
TBD | Winners of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League[note 4] | May 25, 2024 | ||
TBD | Best eligible team in the AFC 4-year ranking[note 5] | |||
CAF (4 slots) | Al Ahly | Winners of the 2020–21 and 2022–23 CAF Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 10th (Previous: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) |
Wydad Casablanca | Winners of the 2021–22 CAF Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 3rd (Previous: 2017, 2022) | |
TBD | Winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League[note 4] | May 26, 2024 | ||
TBD | Best eligible team in the CAF 4-year ranking[note 6] | |||
CONCACAF (4 slots) | Monterrey | Winners of the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 6th (Previous: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019, 2021) |
Seattle Sounders FC | Winners of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 2nd (Previous: 2022) | |
León | Winners of the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League | June 4, 2023 | 2nd (Previous: 2023) | |
TBD | Winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup[note 7] | June 2, 2024 | ||
CONMEBOL (6 slots) | Palmeiras | Winners of the 2021 Copa Libertadores | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 3rd (Previous: 2020, 2021) |
Flamengo | Winners of the 2022 Copa Libertadores | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 3rd (Previous: 2019, 2022) | |
Fluminense | Winners of the 2023 Copa Libertadores | November 4, 2023 | 2nd (Previous: 2023) | |
TBD | Winners of the 2024 Copa Libertadores[note 4] | November 30, 2024 | ||
TBD | Best eligible team in the CONMEBOL 4-year ranking[note 8] | |||
TBD | Second-best eligible team in the CONMEBOL 4-year ranking[note 8] | |||
OFC (1 slot) | Auckland City | Best OFC Champions League winners in the OFC 4-year ranking[note 2] | December 17, 2023 | 12th (Previous: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023) |
UEFA (12 slots) | Chelsea | Winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 3rd (Previous: 2012, 2021) |
Real Madrid | Winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League | March 14, 2023[note 3] | 7th (Previous: 2000, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022) | |
Manchester City | Winners of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League | June 10, 2023 | 2nd (Previous: 2023) | |
TBD | Winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League[note 4] | June 1, 2024 | ||
Bayern Munich | UEFA 4-year ranking[note 9] | December 17, 2023 | 3rd (Previous: 2013, 2020) | |
Paris Saint-Germain | UEFA 4-year ranking[note 9] | December 17, 2023 | 1st | |
Inter Milan | UEFA 4-year ranking[note 9] | December 17, 2023 | 2nd (Previous: 2010) | |
Porto | UEFA 4-year ranking[note 9] | December 17, 2023 | 1st | |
Benfica | UEFA 4-year ranking[note 9] | December 17, 2023 | 1st | |
TBD[note 10] | UEFA 4-year ranking | 1st | ||
TBD[note 11] | UEFA 4-year ranking | 1st | ||
TBD[note 12] | UEFA 4-year ranking | |||
CONCACAF (host) (1 slot) | TBD | TBD | 1st |