Arne Slot has shared his thoughts on Liverpool’s pre-season, appearing to take a subtle swipe at clubs that competed in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Speaking about the summer schedule, Slot said:
“It’s the pleasing thing about not having a tournament in the summer.”
The remark was aimed at teams involved in FIFA’s newly expanded Club World Cup, which took place in the United States.
While selected clubs were playing with Chelsea taking home the trophy, Slot’s Liverpool have been able to concentrate solely on training and friendly matches ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
The Reds have spent their summer fine-tuning tactics, integrating new signings and working on squad fitness without the disruption of long-haul competitive fixtures.
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Why Liverpool did not play in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?
The new 32-team FIFA Club World Cup features only two clubs from each country.
Despite technically ‘qualifying’ through UEFA’s rankings, Liverpool missed out because both Chelsea and Manchester City had already secured automatic places by winning the Champions League during the designated four-year period from 2020/21 to 2023/24.
Liverpool were ranked higher than Chelsea in UEFA’s coefficient table but were ruled out under the two-club-per-country restriction.
This meant lower-ranked teams like Red Bull Salzburg were given spots instead.
Europe was allocated 12 places in the tournament, but the final list left the Reds watching from home.
The competition will be staged every four years, meaning Liverpool’s next chance to take part will be in 2029.
For that to happen, they will need to win the Champions League before then or hope fewer than two English sides lift the trophy during the next qualification cycle.
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