The Revamped FIFA Club World Cup: Format, Participants, and Ongoing Controversies

The expanded FIFA Club World Cup is scheduled to be held in the United States between 15 June and 13 July 2025. This tournament, which previously occurred annually with seven top teams, will now include 32 teams and be staged every four years. The competition, which former Fifa president Sepp Blatter once labeled a “mistake,” is undergoing a significant and controversial overhaul. The tournament’s draw was conducted on Thursday. Clubs representing all six international football confederations—Asia (AFC), Africa (Caf), North and Central America (Concacaf), South America (Conmebol), Oceania (OFC), and Europe (Uefa)—will participate in the Club World Cup. European clubs have been allocated 12 berths, which is the largest quota among the confederations. These spots are determined by clubs’ Champions League performances across the last four seasons. Consequently, recent Champions League victors Chelsea, Manchester City, and Real Madrid have all secured their qualification. Additional European teams have qualified via a Uefa ranking system, which considers clubs’ performances over the same four-season period. A limit of two clubs per country applies, meaning England’s 2022 Champions League finalists Liverpool are not among the qualifiers. Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg, which will compete as FC Salzburg due to Fifa sponsorship regulations, is also set to participate. Asia, Africa, and the North and Central America federation each receive four club places. South American clubs are granted six places, while Oceania receives one. Clubs accumulated points over the past four seasons based on their results in their respective continental club competitions. Group A consists of Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly, and Inter Miami. Group B includes Paris St-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, and Seattle Sounders. Group C features Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, and Benfica. Group D comprises Flamengo, Esperance Sportive de Tunisie, Chelsea, and Club Leon. Group E is made up of River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey, and Inter Milan. Group F contains Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, and Mamelodi Sundowns. Group G lists Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, and Juventus. Group H includes Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, and Salzburg. A single position in the tournament is allocated to a team from the host country. Fifa chose to grant this spot to Inter Miami, recognizing their victory in the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield, an award for the team with the best regular-season performance. However, the Floridian club subsequently exited the MLS play-offs, thus not becoming this season’s champions. The invitation extended to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami has attracted some criticism. Some observers have interpreted the decision to invite Inter Miami to the Club World Cup prior to the conclusion of the MLS campaign as an effort by Fifa to guarantee the participation of Lionel Messi, who joined the team in 2023, in a tournament that has garnered limited public interest to date. The restructured Club World Cup will operate similarly to the international men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments. The 32 participating teams will be organized into eight groups of four, with each team playing every other team in its group once in a round-robin format. The two highest-ranked teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages. In contrast to the international World Cups, the Club World Cup will not feature a third-place play-off match. The championship final is scheduled for 13 July 2025. All games will be hosted in the United States, one year before the nation co-hosts the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. Matches are planned to be contested across 12 distinct stadiums. Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium Charlotte, TQL Stadium Cincinnati, Bank of America Stadium Los Angeles, Rose Bowl Stadium Miami, Hard Rock Stadium Nashville, GEODIS Park New Jersey, MetLife Stadium Orlando, Camping World Stadium Orlando, Inter&Co Stadium Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field Seattle, Lumen Field Washington DC, Audi Field The inaugural match will take place in Miami, with the final set for New Jersey. Streaming service DAZN has acquired exclusive broadcasting rights and will make all 63 matches available for free viewing on its platforms, with the possibility of sublicensing rights to local free-to-air broadcasters. Fifa is presently subject to legal proceedings, external, initiated by player unions and leagues concerning the tournament’s scheduling. The global players’ union Fifpro and leading European Leagues assert that the international football calendar is “oversaturated” and “risks player safety and wellbeing.” A number of players, such as Liverpool’s Alisson Becker and Manchester City’s Rodri, have voiced concerns regarding player wellbeing due to an increasingly congested football schedule. Only five weeks separate the Club World Cup final from the inaugural Premier League match of the 2025-2026 season, slated for 16 August. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has already asked for a delayed commencement to the Premier League season for his squad, and City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne informed reporters: “The issue is that Uefa and Fifa keep adding extra matches, and we can raise concerns but no solutions have been found. It seems that money speaks louder than the players’ voices.” A Fifa spokesperson stated to BBC Sport: “The Fifa Club World Cup is not responsible for calendar congestion. It is a competitive tournament that takes place once every four years and, as independent studies have verified, Fifa is only responsible for a small percentage of matches per season.” The spokesperson added: “Fifa cares about the welfare of the players. Following a decision taken earlier this year, Fifa is formalising the Task Force on Player Welfare, headed by Arsene Wenger, to promote further global dialogue on player welfare issues with key stakeholders across football.” The Club World Cup will partially coincide with Women’s Euro 2025, scheduled from 2-27 July. BBC Sport inquired with Fifa to explain this scheduling conflict and whether there were apprehensions about the Women’s Euro vying for attention against the Club World Cup. A Fifa spokesperson informed BBC Sport: “The international match calendar for 2025-2030 was approved by the Fifa Council in 2023, which is made up of members from each of the six confederations, including Uefa.” The spokesperson continued: “While Fifa accepts that both the men’s and women’s international match calendars are constrained by obvious limitations, this was deemed to be the most balanced solution.” They further stated: “It is also important to note that given the time difference between Switzerland [host of Uefa Women’s Euro 2025] and the United States [where the Fifa Club World Cup will take place], the number of matches where a potential clash could take place will be fewer.”