The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will officially be coming to American soil.
32 teams will take part in the expanded tournament between June 15 -July 13, FIFA confirmed Friday. Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Chelsea have already clinched berths into the competition as recent past winners of the UEFA Champions League.
The Seattle Sounders, Palmeiras, Flamengo, Monterrey, and Club Leon are among the other club teams from around the world that have already clinched Club World Cup berths.
FIFA had announced in March the basic qualification path for clubs was to win a continental championship in any of the four years from 2021 to 2024 in the five main confederations; Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
Europe will have 12 representatives, while South America will have six as the only continents with more than four entries. Extra places are expected to be awarded according to team rankings by results a four-year span in continental competitions.
The current format of the FIFA Club World Cup is set to conclude in December 2023 in Saudi Arabia. Real Madrid won the 2022 edition last year and Manchester City will be UEFA’s representative this year after lifting a first UCL trophy in June.
FIFA also confirmed that the 2024 Intercontinental Cup will feature the UEFA Champions League winner vs. a team that comes through intercontinental playoffs.
Here is the official list of clubs that have already confirmed their involvement in the competition:
- Al Ahly SC (EGY)
- Wydad AC (MAR)
- Al Hilal (KSA)
- Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN)
- Chelsea (ENG)
- Manchester City (ENG)
- Real Madrid (ESP)
- Bayern Munich (GER)
- Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
- Inter Milan (ITA)
- FC Porto (POR)
- Benfica (POR)
- CF Monterrey (MEX)
- Seattle Sounders (USA)
- Club Leon (MEX)
- Auckland City FC (NZL)
- Palmeiras (BRA)
- Flamengo (BRA)
- Fluminense (BRA)
It definitely sounds cool in theory.
You have to wonder if it’s going to pound the teams involved into the ground. For a lot of those players, that’s a lot of summers in a row without a break.
But I’ll still watch, of course. 😉
I wonder how full strength these rosters will be. Not mention most contracts expire June 30th so anyway making a move won’t play. I expect to see a lot of youth players.
Cool. We are going to be saturated by soccer with Copa America (’24), The FIFA Club World Cup (’25), and The World Cup (’26). What a great time to be a soccer fan in the USA! Things have really changed so much for US soccer in the last 30+ years. I feel lucky to be living now as a soccer fan in the US (and jealous of those that will get to breathe in the decades that will follow). The profile of the beautiful game in the USA is going to push to new heights.