FIFA has announced that its revamped Club World Cup, to be held for the first time in 2025, will feature 32 teams. The United States will host the 2025 edition of the expanded event, held every four years after that. The tournament will take place from mid-June to mid-July.
The new competition will replace the current seven-team event, which initially expanded to 24 teams before being scrapped due to concerns about players’ workloads. The expanded competition will feature eight groups of four, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the knockout stages, which will be played in a single-legged format starting at the last-16 stage. There will be no third-place playoff.
A total of 12 European clubs will qualify for the competition, with spaces allocated based on their performance in the Champions League over four years. Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Manchester City have all already secured their places due to winning this season’s tournament. UEFA’s other representatives will be the 2021 Europa League champions, plus a team that comes through intercontinental playoffs.
South America will also have six entrants due to winning their continental competitions over the same period. The other four slots will be awarded via a new system that combines results from a club’s previous three Champions League seasons with its international matches over the same period. It is unclear what this method will entail and whether it will be similar to the existing World Cup qualifying system.
Oceania will get one guaranteed participant, with the spot decided by a complex formula that includes results from previous Club World Cups and its continental championships. The final two spots will be awarded to the winners of CONCACAF’s two top club competitions, while a wildcard will be available for all confederations.
The competition will be held in the middle of the year rather than at the end, which could prove controversial. European clubs have long complained that the current calendar is too congested with club competitions and international fixtures, and a summer tournament would create the risk of players having to play back-to-back games in a short period. The body representing the continent’s clubs, FIFPRO, has previously called for rules limiting how many consecutive back-to-back games players must play.