Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG have all discovered their opponents as the FIFA Club World Cup draw was completed in Miami.
A complex and lengthy draw ceremony was held across two separate Miami locations and lasted more than 90 minutes, during which a new Club World Cup trophy was revealed. The radical new beefed up competition has hiked up from seven to 32 teams for the first time. The matches will be held in 12 stadiums across the United States, a year before the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. The opening match will be held in Miami on Sunday, June 15, 2025 with the final held at the MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants NFL team, a month later on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
Teams from each of the six international football confederations take part: Asia (AFC), Africa (Caf), North and Central America (Concacaf), South America (Conmebol), Oceania (OFC) and Europe (Uefa). Traditionally the tournament took place in December with seven sides, but from 2025 it will be expanded to 32 sides and held in the summer, occurring once every four years.
The tournament format mirrors the World Cup. A group stage composed of eight groups of four teams per group playing in a single-game round-robin format, with the top two sides in each group progressing to the last 16. From there it's a direct single match knockout format all the way to the final - but no play-off for third place.
Manchester City are the current holders of a competition once branded a "mistake" by ex-Fifa president Sepp Blatter. The tournament also sees the giants like PSG, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan take on rivals from as far afield as South Africa, Australia and Tunisia at stadiums across the United States. FIFA has already faced criticism from players for adding more games to their hectic schedule.
But like it or not, the Club World Cup is happening and Record Sport has the rundown of the draw.
The full Club World Cup draw:
G roup A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami
Group B: Paris St-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Benfica, Boca Juniors
Group D: Flamengo, Chelsea, Club Leon, Esperance Sportive de Tunis
Group E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, CF Monterrey, Inter
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD, Mamelodi Sundowns
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad AC, Al Ain FC, Juventus
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, CF Pachuca, FC Salzburg
Why is Lionel Messi's Inter Miami involved?
One spot has been reserved for a team from the host nation. FIFA chose Inter Miami as they won the 2024 MLS Supporters' Shield, the trophy given out to the team which has the best regular-season record. The Floridians then lost in the MLS play-offs, meaning they are not this season's champions. Their has been backlash to the decision with FIFA accused of using Messi's popularity as a PR stunt to generate interest in the flailing interest in the competition. Inter Miami were picked before the MLS campaign was even concluded.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi (Image: Getty Images)
Why are Chelsea and Manchester City involved?
There are 12 places available for European clubs. These places are decided by clubs' Champions League performances over the past four seasons. That means recent winners Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid have all qualified. Other big European names have qualified through a UEFA ranking system determined by clubs' performances over the four seasons. Only two clubs per country can qualify, so 2022 Champions League finalists Liverpool are not included.
What stadiums will the matches be played in?
The full list of stadiums:
Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Charlotte, TQL Stadium
Cincinnati, Bank of America Stadium
Los Angeles, Rose Bowl Stadium
Miami, Hard Rock Stadium
Nashville, GEODIS Park
New Jersey, MetLife Stadium
Orlando, Camping World Stadium
Orlando, Inter&Co Stadium
Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field
Seattle, Lumen Field
Washington DC, Audi Field
How can I watch the Club World Cup?
FIFA failed to agree a TV broadcast deal for the heavily revised competition. So, streaming platform DAZN has secured exclusive rights and will show all 63 matches free to view on on its platforms, and there is also potential for it to sublicense rights to local free-to-air broadcasters.