Phil Foden with the FIfa Club World Cup trophy - Fifa Club World Cup: Who is in it, when is it and how to watch it
Phil Foden and Manchester City lifted the trophy last year, with the 2025 edition set to be on a much larger scale Credit: Getty Images/Lars Baron
The draw for the expanded Fifa Club World Cup takes place in Miami on Thursday – 24 hours after a $1 billion (£787 million) broadcast deal was announced with DAZN. An annual seven-team format is being replaced by a 32-team contest every four years. Here is how the draw will work and the lowdown on the tournament itself...
When and where is the Club World Cup?
The 2025 tournament will run from June 15 to July 13 next year and is being held in the US. Twelve venues will be used across the country, with the final to be staged at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The other venues are Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), Rose Bowl Stadium (Pasadena), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle) and Audi Field (Washington).
The Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosted the World Cup final between Brazil and Italy in 1994
The Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosted the World Cup final between Brazil and Italy in 1994 Credit: Getty Images/Mike Powell
Who is set to play?
The tournament features clubs from each of the six international confederations and there are 12 places available for European clubs, decided by Champions League performances over the past four seasons. As a result, recent European Cup winners Chelsea (2021) and Manchester City (2023) have qualified. Only two clubs per country can qualify, meaning 2022 Champions League finalists Liverpool are not included. One spot in the tournament is reserved for a team from the host nation, which enabled Fifa to shoehorn Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami into the draw as US are staging the event.
In pot one, City are joined by Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense.
Chelsea are in pot two with Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and Salzburg.
Pot three includes Al-Hilal, Ulsan, Al-Ahly, Wydad, Monterrey, Club Leon, Boca Juniors and Botafogo.
Pot four is Urawa Red Diamonds, Al-Ain, Esperance Sportive de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders, Auckland City and Inter Miami.
What is the system for the draw?
The competition shares the same draw format of the men’s and women’s World Cup competitions. The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, who will play each other in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will then go through to the knockout stages. The final will take place on July 13, but unlike the World Cups, there will be no third-place play-off.
Is the tournament controversial?
In short, yes.
The involvement of 32 teams has added even more games and, in the process, cut rest time for the world’s top players. This has attracted criticism and led to the threat of strike action by some players. In June, Fifpro, the global footballers’s union, took legal action against Fifa over player burnout at the expanded Club World Cup. There is also the issue that a lot of players’s contracts will run out in the middle of the tournament.
How can I watch the tournament?
On Wednesday, Fifa and DAZN announced a $1 billion free-to-air broadcast rights deal for the new competition, which will begin with live coverage of the draw from Miami on Thursday from 6pm (GMT).
“The 32 participating clubs will discover their group-stage opponents in a live studio event that will kick off at 13:00 EST/18:00 GMT/19:00 CET,” Fifa announced. “The agreement to hold the exclusive global broadcast rights to the Fifa Club World Cup 2025 marks the start of a broader partnership between DAZN and Fifa. This includes integrating Fifa+, Fifa’s library of iconic football moments and full-match replays, as well as live fixtures, into the DAZN platform.”
What else does DAZN show?
There has been much talk behind the scenes that Saudi Arabia is propping up DAZN with investment for its rights deal with Fifa. Connections with the kingdom have steadily grown in recent years. The streaming service became the first major rights partner for the Saudi Pro League and it has also established itself as one of the biggest powerbrokers in boxing, having initially agreed a deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport in 2018.