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Arsenal fans are familiar with the phrase “so close, yet so far.” It’s practically tattooed on the club’s DNA. And so it goes with the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, a shiny new tournament where 32 of the world’s best clubs will gather in the U.S. next week, and where Arsenal will not be, but not because they’re not good enough now, it’s because they weren’t good enough then.
What does that mean?
Let’s set the scene. Qualification for the Club World Cup wasn’t based on just one great season or a dramatic final-day push, no, it was based on a cold, four-year coefficient tally. From 2020-21 through 2023-24, clubs racked up UEFA points by reaching quarterfinals, semis, and finals in the Champions League.
And here lies the problem for Arsenal. For half of that period, Arsenal wasn’t even in the Champions League. Years in the wilderness of Thursday night football, called the Europa League, followed by a long-overdue return under Mikel Arteta in 2023-24. This meant the Gunners Champions League recent resume looked more like a Linked-In profile with a two-year employment gap.
Yes, they did quite well in 2023-24, but one good campaign, even if it ended in the quarterfinals, wasn’t enough to leapfrog serial contenders like Chelsea and Manchester City, who had stacked up enough UEFA points to qualify for the inaugural CWC tournament.
Meanwhile, smaller and less prestigious clubs, but with sharper résumés, will pack their bags for the USA in just a week while Arsenal, for all of their progress, remain at home.
It’s not a punishment. It’s just math, and for Arsenal, who’ve finally built a team worthy of the elite, it’s an agonizing reminder that history doesn’t just reward the present. You don’t get into the Club World Cup by being good now_,_ you get in by having been great then.
Now you know.
Here are the clubs that did qualify for the 32-team tournament that opens on June 14th.
* Group A: Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami CF
* Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders FC
* Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City FC, Boca Juniors, Benfica
* Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, LAFC
* Group E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, CF Monterrey, Inter Milan
* Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD, Mamelodi Sundowns
* Group G: Manchester City, Wydad AC, Al Ain, Juventus
* Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, CF Pachuca, FC Salzburg
Gunner1953