2025 FIFA Club World Cup

2025 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be the 21st edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, an international club football competition organized by FIFA. The tournament will be played in the United States from June to July 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.
Background
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. 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. 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. 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. China was appointed as hosts in October 2019, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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. 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. 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.
On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States will host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The host cities for the tournament remain undecided. 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. The format will be the same that was used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022.
Slot allocation and qualification
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 were awarded the most slots with 12, while CONMEBOL were 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. On March 14, the FIFA Council approved the key principles of the access list for the tournament. The principles are as follows, considering competitions completed during a four-year period from 2021 to 2024:
CONMEBOL and UEFA (more than four slots): access for the winners of the confederation's top club competition between 2021 and 2024, with additional teams to be determined by a club ranking of the four-year period
AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF (four slots each): access for the winners of the confederation's top club competition between 2021 and 2024
OFC (one slot): access for the highest-ranked club among the winners of the confederation's top club competition between 2021 and 2024
Host country (one slot): To be determined at a later stage
If a club wins two or more seasons of their 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.
Based on the access list, the following teams have qualified for the tournament:
Notes
References
External links
2025
2025 in association football
June 2025 sports events
July 2025 sports events in the United States
2025
Scheduled association football competitions