Thirty-two clubs from all around the world will compete for the crown of world champions in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, a redesigned continental football club championship that will take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025. According to Olympics.com, numerous continental and domestic champions from every continent participated in the draw that took place in Miami on Thursday. Real Madrid of Spain, who won the UEFA Champions League, Botafogo of Brazil, who won the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores, and Al Ahly of Egypt, who have won three of the previous four CAF Champions League championships, are among the top teams competing.
For the first time in the tournament’s 24-year existence, the Club World Cup will feature 32 clubs competing in the same format as the World Cup, which nations contest.
Six to eight teams have always competed in the Club World Cup, but the new format will see the most competitors in the competition’s history.
The confederation used the four-year rankings and the champions of continental club events, such as the Champions League, to determine which clubs qualified.
South America (CONMEBOL) includes six teams, whereas Europe (whose confederation is UEFA) has twelve, making up the largest representation of the 32 teams.
Then there are four teams from North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), Africa (AFC), and Asia (AFC).
The organizers awarded the last spot to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, the domestic winners of the host country, while Oceania (OFC) had only one club.
Olympics.com reports that organizers will split the teams into eight groups of four to compete in a round-robin group round, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout phases.
Although the organizers have finalized the tournament layout, they have not yet released the whole schedule. They scheduled the first match for June 15, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, while they will hold the final on July 13, 2025, at MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey.
Read More: Gus Atkinson ‘greedy for more’ after hat-trick floors NZ
