Real Madrid and Manchester City, Chelsea will compete in the Club World Cup in 2025.
On Sunday, Fifa published information of the new Club World Cup structure, stating that the inaugural edition will take place in 2025 and will feature European giants Real Madrid and Manchester City.
The event will be held in the United States from June 15 to July 13 and will include 32 teams divided into eight groups, with two teams from each pool moving to a last 16 knockout stage.
“Clubs play a fundamental role in world football, and the Fifa Club World Cup 2025 will be a major milestone in providing clubs from all confederations with a fitting stage on which to shine at the highest level of the game,” the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, stated.
“This will be an open competition based on sporting merit that will play a key role as part of our efforts to make football truly global.”
Uefa (Europe) will have 12 teams, Conmebol (South America) will have six, CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia), and Concacaf (North America) will each have four, and OFC (Oceania) will have one.
Real Madrid and Manchester City, Chelsea will compete in the Club World Cup in 2025
Since 2021, the winners of the Champions League, particularly Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Manchester City, have received four European places, as have the eventual winners of the 2024 campaign. A additional five European clubs have already qualified for the 2025 tournament due to their Uefa ranking: Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Porto, and Benfica.
In the current edition of Fifa’s showpiece club event, Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense play Al Ahly of Egypt on Monday, whilst Champions League victors Manchester City face Urawa Reds the following day in the semi-finals. — AFP
