Soccer’s global governing body FIFA has revealed key details of the expanded Club World Cup (CWC) competition in 2025, including the first batch of clubs confirmed to participate.
At a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia over the weekend, where this year’s CWC is currently being held, the FIFA Council confirmed that the first edition of the enlarged 32-team competition will take place between June 15 and July 13, 2025.
The competition’s official name will be Mundial de Clubes FIFA and will feature clubs from each of the six confederations based on a champions pathway (winners in the last four years) and a ranking pathway (based on coefficient points).
The tournament, which will be staged in the US, will include 12 teams from Europe, six from South America, one from Oceania, four each from Asia, Africa, North and Central America, and the Caribbean, and one from the US as the host country.
Eight teams have already been confirmed from Europe – Chelsea and Manchester City (England), and Real Madrid (Spain) will join as winners of the UEFA Champions League in the past three seasons, and Bayern Munich (Germany), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Inter Milan (Italy), and FC Porto and Benfica (Portugal) receive spots based on coefficient points.
Three other European teams will join through the ranking pathway, as well as the winners of this year’s Champions League (if different from clubs already confirmed).
Brazilian sides Palmeiras, Flamengo, and Fluminense are the teams confirmed from South America so far, while Al Ahly (Egypt) and Wydad AC (Morocco) will represent Africa, and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) and Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) will feature for Asia.
CF Monterrey and Club León (Mexico), and Seattle Sounders (USA) have already taken three of the four spots in North and Central America and the Caribbean, while New Zealand’s Auckland City will be the sole representatives from Oceania.
The format of the competition will begin with a group stage composed of eight groups of four teams playing in a single-game round-robin format.
The top two teams per group will then progress to the round of 16. A direct single-match knockout stage will take place from the round of 16 to the final.
The competition will therefore follow the same format as the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with the exception that there will be no play-off for third place.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino first confirmed the tournament’s expansion to a 32-team format in December last year.
The current edition of the CWC will conclude with the final in Jeddah on December 22.
Fluminense will take on Al Ahly in the first semi-final today, while Manchester City will face Urawa Reds tomorrow (December 19).
In addition to the 2026 World Cup, the US is set to host the Copa America, South America's national teams tournament, next year.
FIFA has also confirmed that its new Intercontinental Cup will be played annually from 2024.
In March 2023, the FIFA Council approved the new FIFA club competition, featuring all the winners of the continental club competitions, concluding with a final at a neutral venue between the UEFA Champions League winners and the winners of an intercontinental play-off between clubs from the other confederations.
The play-off will take place on December 14, 2024, in a neutral location, while the final will be held on December 18, 2024, in the same neutral venue.
This will predominantly mirror the traditional format of the CWC.
Meanwhile, at yesterday’s (December 17) council meeting, FIFA named Chile as the host nation of the 2025 Under-20 World Cup, with Poland to stage the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in 2026.
The previous men’s Under-20 World Cup was held this year in Argentina, while the women’s edition was last hosted by Costa Rica in 2022.
