FIFA Club World Cup: Format, draw, teams, schedule and why Messi is playing
Credit to Author: Dale Johnson| Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2024 08:34:57 EST
Shaka Hislop says FIFA are forcing players to their absolute limit with the timing of the season-ending Club World Cup. (1:46)
The inaugural draw for the new-look FIFA Club World Cup takes place on Thursday, Dec. 5 in Miami at 1 p.m. ET. It’s a competition that will look a whole lot different to what we’ve been used to and FIFA has managed to ensure Lionel Messi will be front and centre.
The previous incarnation of the Club World Cup saw seven teams from the six FIFA confederations play seven matches across 11 days at one central host.
Now 32 teams will descend on the United States to battle it out for the title of the world’s greatest club team of the last four seasons, cramming 63 fixtures into 28 days.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new-look competition.
It mirrors the old format of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League. With the 32 clubs drawn into eight groups of four, they play each other once and filter into a knockout tournament.
The group winners and runners-up go through and then it’s a straight knockout competition — round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final — with extra time and penalties determining who progresses should a game end in a draw.
The opening match will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday, June 15.
The final is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, July 13.
FIFA has not yet announced any further details of the schedule.
There were two ways to qualify:
1) By winning a continental title (e.g. UEFA Champions League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, etc) in one of the four most-recent seasons. If a club wins the title more than once in this period (such as Real Madrid), the slot(s) is passed to a team who qualifies from 2).
2) By having a high ranking of performance in the top-level continental tournament over the four-year period.
Each confederation has been given a set number of places based upon its strength. As such, UEFA has 12 slots, and CONMEBOL six. There’s four each for Concacaf, Asia and Africa, plus one for Oceania.
Each country was allowed a maximum of two participants, with one caveat. All continental champions have a right to play at the Club World Cup, and Brazilian clubs are so dominant in South American football they they have won all four qualifying editions of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (it’s actually the last six back to 2020), each with a different club. So, Brazil gets four teams in the competition, rather than two.
Once the standard two-per-country limit was hit, another club from that nation couldn’t qualify by the ranking route — and this has ruled out six teams: Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and AC Milan.
For instance, as Chelsea and Manchester City claimed a slot by winning the Champions League in recent seasons, Liverpool — ranked eighth — were bypassed to fill up the UEFA allocation. Benfica (ranked 13th), Juventus (14th) and RB Salzburg (18th) benefitted when, over the four years, other clubs have performed better.
Barcelona miss out because their results in the Champions League have been slightly worse than than of Atlético Madrid, who take a ranking place.
Here are the 31 teams who won their place in the 2025 on merit.
The 32nd place at the Club World Cup is reserved for a representative of the host nation, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Oct. 18 that Inter Miami CF had been invited. It means that, barring injury, FIFA will get to have Messi, arguably the game’s greatest-ever player, in the first edition of the competition.
This is controversial because Inter Miami are not MLS champions. They won the Supporters’ Shield, handed to the team with the best regular-season record, and broke the MLS record for most points (74) in a single season in the process. But it’s the winners of the MLS Cup, the end-of-season playoff tournament among the 18 best-performing teams from the Conference league season, who are recognised as the overall champions. Inter Miami failed to make it past the first round, as they were knocked out by Atlanta United.
When LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls meet in the MLS Cup final on Saturday they will not also be playing for the right to represent the U.S. at the Club World Cup.
So Inter Miami and Messi will be at the Club World Cup. Not only that, it seems highly likely he’ll play in the first-ever match at Miami’s home on June 15. Maybe he’ll get to take the kickoff too?
It takes place on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. UK in Miami.
The 32 team have been divided into four pots of eight, with confederation rankings and geographical considerations taken into account.
Pot 1: Highest-ranked teams from Europe and South America
Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense
Pot 2: Rest of Europe
Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale, FC Porto, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus, RB Salzburg
Pot 3: Best of Asia, Africa, Concacaf; rest of South America
Al Hilal, Ulsan HD, Al Ahly, Wydad AC, Monterrey, León, Boca Juniors, Botafogo
Pot 4: All remaining clubs
Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Espérance Sportive de Tunisie, Mamelodi Sundowns, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders FC, Auckland City, Inter Miami CF
Basic principles of the draw:
1) No group can feature more than one team from the same confederation except for UEFA, which has 12 teams across the eight groups
2) Teams from the same country cannot be drawn together, which only affects Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid
3) Inter Miami CF take position four in Group A and will play the opening game
4) Seattle Sounders take position four in Group B to ensure they play at their home ground
Now the more complicated part
POT 1
FIFA has created a seeding structure, which means top UEFA seeds Manchester City and Real Madrid will be in opposite halves of the draw, as will Flamengo and Palmeiras of CONMEBOL. It means that if these four teams win their groups and win their knockout ties they would meet each other in Europe vs. South America semifinals.
The same principle of being in opposite halves of the draw applies to Pot 1 seeds 3 and 4 for each confederation: Bayern Munich & Paris Saint-Germain and River Plate & Fluminense.
In addition, the UEFA teams in Pot 1 will be placed into groups so that, if they finish first in the group, they cannot play each other before the semifinals. The same applies to the four South American teams.
To achieve the necessary draw build for Pot teams, pathways have been created.
Pathway 1: Winners of Groups A, C, E and G play the runners-up of Groups B, D, F and H.
Pathway 2: Winners of Groups B, D, F and H play the runners-up of Groups A, C, E and G.
So, for instance, Real Madrid and Man City will be in different pathways, as will Flamengo and Palmeiras.
POT 2
Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale and FC Porto will be drawn into a group with one of Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense.
Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and RB Salzburg will be drawn into a group with one of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain (though the Madrid clubs cannot play each other.)
How the draw works
It starts by drawing all of the teams from team pot 1, then pots 2, 3 and 4. Groups will be filled in order, subject to draw constraints.
For Groups A and B, the other teams take the same position as their pot (as Inter Miami and Seattle are in position 4).
For Groups C to H, the position in the group, e.g. C2, will be drawn. This influences the order of the fixtures.
FIFA says the new trophy is “a celebration of hope, excellence and pride, embodying the journey of every club, player and fan.”
It adds: “Boasting a 24-carat gold-plated finish, the FIFA Club World Cup Trophy features intricate laser-engraved inscriptions on both sides, showcasing text and imagery that portray football’s rich history. The inscriptions include a world map and the names of all 211 FIFA Member Associations and the six confederations, representing the geographical and cultural diversity of the beautiful game.
“The trophy’s central disc displays an array of icons that capture football’s traditions, including symbols of stadiums and equipment and a world map.
“The trophy also features engravings in 13 languages and Braille, further highlighting the inclusive spirit of the global game and ensuring that the tournament’s legacy is accessible to diverse audiences around the world. Space is available to laser-engrave the emblems of the winning clubs for 24 editions of the tournament. Furthermore, the trophy can transform from a shield into a multifaceted and orbital structure — an adaptable design that establishes a powerful visual structure.”
Engraved on the trophy is a message which reads: “To those who hold this trophy, history belongs to you! You are witness to a moment in time that represents the pinnacle of club football, bestowed upon few but celebrated by many.”
It is intended to be held every four years as a test event for the FIFA World Cup, hence why the 2025 edition is taking place in the United States, ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
The new Club World Cup is effectively a “best of” tournament. It’s just taken on the name of the old tournament. But guess what … the annual December competition still exists but it’s now called the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Yes, that’s right, even though we’ve got the summer tournament there will still be the annual “world champion” crowned this month.
However, rather than matches being held over the course of a week and hosted by one nation, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup takes place throughout the first half of the season. The first and second round ties have home advantage, before the final three matches take place in Qatar.
First round
Al Ain won 6-2 at home to Auckland City on Sept. 22.
Second round
Al Ain then lost 3-0 to Al Ahly in Cairo in the second round on Oct. 29.
CONMEBOL Libertadores winner Botafogo play Liga MX side Pachuca in Doha on Dec. 11.
Semifinal (Challenger Cup)
Al Ahly play the winners of Botafogo vs. Pachuca in Doha on Dec. 14.
Final
Real Madrid are automatically in the final, which is to be played in Lusail on Dec. 18.
That’s the big question, and there’s the danger of some heavily one-sided fixtures in the group stage.
Historically, the old Club World Cup was completely dominated by clubs from Europe (16 titles) and South America (4) across its 20 editions.
Of the 40 teams to play in the final, only six — DR Congo’s TP Mazembe (2010), Raja Casablanca of Morocco (2013), Japan’s Kashima Antlers (2016), Al-Ain of United Arab Emirates (2018), UANL of Mexico (2020), and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia (2022) — got into the position, but failed to break the duopoly.
So, as every group will have at least two teams from Europe and/or South America, there’s a clear possibility we could see some lopsided-sided groups.
All we know so far is:
Inter Miami will play in the opening match at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, June 15
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will be the home of the final on July 13.
Seattle Sounders will play all three of their matches at their Lumen Field home ground.
Those three venues will be joined by:
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)
TQL Stadium (Cincinnati)
Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles)
GEODIS Park (Nashville, Tennessee)
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando)
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).
Apart from Inter Milam playing the opening match at Hard Rock Stadium, and Seattle’s home games, we don’t know anything at all.
The full match schedule comprising the stadium and kickoff time for each fixture will be finalised and published once the draw has taken place, taking into account a range of factors including sporting and player-centric criteria, local and travelling fans and global broadcast considerations.
It’s a real concern for players, and has led to legal action from the players’ unions.
Maheta Molango, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) in England, told ESPN that leading players including Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden “need to be protected” from the risk of burnout and excessive workload shortening their careers, adding there will be a “price to pay” if football’s schedule continues to intensify.
FIFPRO, the world players’ union, and the PFA are awaiting the outcome of a legal case against FIFA over workload.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri suggested players are “close” to going on strike just days before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
So how packed is the schedule? For the elite European players it’s relentless.
Let’s take a look at how it could pan out for players of Manchester City or Real Madrid:
Their domestic seasons finish on May 25.
If either, or both, get to the Champions League final, that’s played on May 31.
Players will then jet off around the globe to play two crucial World Cup qualifiers, or UEFA Nations League fixtures, on the international window of June 2-10. Just five days later, the Club World Cup begins on June 15.
If Man City got to the final of the Club World Cup on July 13, they would have a rest of 34 days before the Premier League kicks off on the weekend of Aug. 16. There’s no start date for the next LaLiga season just yet.