**City Football Group’s chief operating officer has issued an immediate reaction to Manchester City’s draw fate at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.**
Pep Guardiola and his players will be headed Stateside following the conclusion of the European season next summer, as they hope to defend their world title won in Saudi Arabia back in 2023.
Following on from the UEFA Champions League success in Istanbul that brought Europe’s greatest prize to the Etihad Stadium for the first time, Manchester City won two further games in the Middle-East to be crowned champions of the world.
While Real Madrid took the European title from City the following season, FIFA’s decision to revamp and expand the Club World Cup for 2025 meant that the Premier League champions would retain their world-champion status for an extra year.
And now, Manchester City have found out that their group stage proceedings will contain three match-ups against Italian giants Juventus, Morocco’s Wydad FC, and the United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain.
Speaking in the aftermath of the draw procedure in Miami, City Football Group’s chief operating officer, Roel de Vries [told ManCity.com](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fifa-club-world-cup-2025-draw-roel-de-vries-reaction-63869010), “We are so pleased to be in the US. We were in the US on tour last year and it was a tremendous success.”
He continued, “If you look at the growth of soccer in the US and the growth of our fanbase here, we’re really excited to play here again. We also hope to see many of our fans from the rest of the world to come here and support us.”
Offering his take on Manchester City’s draw, which will see the club take on giants of Italy, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates, de Vries told [Manchester City’s official website](https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fifa-club-world-cup-2025-draw-roel-de-vries-reaction-63869010), “It’s quite an exciting draw.
“One team we’ve played a lot and actually play them next week, Juventus. It’s a big game, we’ve always had big games against them. Then there’s two teams we’ve never played so it’s going to be an interesting group. They’re tough opposition so they’re going to be good games.”
It will be Manchester City’s second summer in a row that they will have made a visit to the United States, as the club continues to make significant ground on the ever-growing football market across the Atlantic.
Pep Guardiola and his players were greeted by sold out stadiums along the east coast of the country last summer, dominated by Sky Blue shirts in meetings with the likes of FC Barcelona, AC Milan, and Chelsea in particular.