Club World Cup 2025 in USA: Confirmed teams, format, dates, venues for FIFA tournament with expanded field | Sporting News (2024)

In December 2023, FIFA unveiled more details regarding the new look of the Club World Cup, with the first edition of the new competition to be contested in the United States in the summer of 2025.

The competition, which has been contested annually since 2000, will move to a four-year cycle to be played the year before the FIFA World Cup. As such, the Club World Cup has also been expanded to a larger field to accommodate the continental champions from the entirety of the previous four years, plus a few additional participants.

In its place on an annual basis will be the newly minted FIFA Intercontinental Cup, which will keep the semblance of the Club World Cup's old format along with a few tweaks. The name is taken from the defunct annual match played between the champions of Europe and South America, which was played for the last time in 2004.

The Sporting News has all the details of the coming changes to the FIFA tournaments as the world governing body hopes to craft a club competition with the gravity and weight of its international sister tournament.

MORE: All the matchups, dates, and venues for the 2024 Copa America in the United States

When is the 2025 Club World Cup? Schedule for tournament

The 2025 Club World Cup will feature a 32-team field with teams from all around the globe, to be contested from June 15, 2025 to July 13, 2025. A draw and exact fixture schedule has yet to be determined, as not all of the participants have yet been determined.

The dates were worked around the international match calendar, which allows time between the end of the competition and the beginning of European domestic club seasons.

However, with North and South American leagues playing a calendar-year schedule, clubs from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL will have to sort out how to fit the competition into their regular season calendar.

Teams in 2025 Club World Cup

All but two confederations were awarded four slots. UEFA was given 12 spots, with CONMEBOL granted six and OFC given one. Additionally, the host nation will also get one additional participant via a nomination system that will often carry some (potentially peripheral) competitive basis but also largely will be chosen to maximize the tournament's profile.

Clubs will qualify for the tournament by winning a continental title within each four-year cycle. Should a club win multiple continental crowns, the runners-up from that year will also qualify.

To begin the new format in the 2025 tournament, FIFA is back-dating its qualifying method, which will see some clubs qualify despite having already secured past Club World Cup berths.

While the additional host nation spot for 2025 has not officially been announced, the prevailing theory is that it will be awarded to 2024 Supporters' Shield winners Inter Miami to allow Lionel Messi to compete in the event. This was reported by Argentine journalist Gaston Edul on October 3.

ClubConfederationNationQualified Via
Al HilalAFCSaudi Arabia2021 AFC Champions League winners
Urawa Red DiamondsAFCJapan2022 AFC Champions League winners
Al AinAFCUAE2023/24 AFC Champions League winners
Ulsan HDAFCSouth KoreaHighest-ranking unqualified AFC club*
Al AhlyCAFEgypt2021/22 CAF Champions League winners
Wydad CasablancaCAFMorocco2021/22 CAF Champions League winners
Esperance de TunisCAFTunisiaHighest-ranking unqualified CAF club**
Mamelodi SundownsCAFSouth Africa2nd highest-ranking unqualified CAF club**
MonterreyCONCACAFMexico2021 CONCACAF Champions League winners
Seattle SoundersCONCACAFUSA2022 CONCACAF Champions League winners
Club LeonCONCACAFMexico2023 CONCACAF Champions League winners
PachucaCONCACAFMexico2024 CONCACAF Champions League winners
TBDCONCACAFUSAClub from host nation
PalmeirasCONMEBOLBrazil2021 Copa Libertadores winners
FlamengoCONMEBOLBrazil2022 Copa Libertadores winners
FluminenseCONMEBOLBrazil2023 Copa Libertadores winners
River Plate/TBDCONMEBOL2024 Copa Libertadores winners***
River Plate/OlimpiaCONMEBOLArgentina/TBDHighest-ranking unqualified CONMEBOL club
Boca JuniorsCONMEBOLArgentina2nd highest-ranking unqualified CONMEBOL club
Auckland CityOFCNew ZealandHighest-ranking OFC club across four-year period
ChelseaUEFAEngland2020/21 UEFA Champions League winners
Real MadridUEFASpain2021/22 & 2023/24 UEFA Champions League winners
Man CityUEFAEngland2022/23 UEFA Champions League winners
Bayern MunichUEFAGermanyHighest-ranking unqualified UEFA club
PSGUEFAFrance2nd highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
Inter MilanUEFAItaly3rd highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
PortoUEFAPortugal4th highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
BenficaUEFAPortugal5th highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
Borussia DortmundUEFAGermany6th highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
JuventusUEFAItaly7th highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
Atletico MadridUEFASpain8th highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub
Red Bull SalzburgUEFAAustria9th highest-ranking unqualified UEFAclub****

* Because the AFC moved its continental tournament from a calendar-year schedule to a European-league schedule, there are only three title winners from this four-year cycle. Thus, an additional qualifier wasawarded via the confederation's club ranking.
** Because Al Ahly won the CAF Champions League three times in this four-year cycle (2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24),two additional qualifiers were awarded via the confederation's club ranking.
*** If River Plate win the 2024 Copa Libertadores, Olimpia will qualify as the next highest-ranked CONMEBOL club. If another side wins the 2024 Copa Libertadores and qualifies in that manner, River Plate will qualify based on CONMEBOL ranking.
**** Because Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League two times in this four-year cycle,an additional qualifierwas awarded via the confederation's club ranking.

How does FIFA rank clubs for Club World Cup qualification?

FIFA approved its newest club ranking system in late 2023, which will be heavily utilised for qualification to the Club World Cup.

Starting from the group stage of the confederation's relevant premier club competition, teams will earn three points for a group-stage win and one point for a draw, plus three points for progression to each successive knockout stage.

However, there is one exception. Forthis competition only, UEFA will use its current coefficient ranking system. As per thatsystem, European clubs will earn two points for a group-stage win and one point for a draw, plus four points for qualification for the group stage, five points for qualification for the Round of 16, and one point for progress to each stage of the competition thereafter.

2025 Club World Cup host cities

The host cities for the 2025 Club World Cup were announced in late September.

Notably, the host cities are nearly all east of the Mississippi River, which was done purposely. Because the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be contested in the United States at the same time, to keep travel minimized, the two competitions were collaboratively split.

With just two exceptions, the Club World Cup was largely kept to east coast venues, while Gold Cup matches were arranged throughout the western half of the country.

2025 Club World Cup venues are as follows:

VenueLocationCapacity
Rose BowlPasadena, CA88,500
MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ82,500
Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC75,000
Mercedes-Benz StadiumAtlanta, GA75,000
Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA69,000
Lumen FieldSeattle, WA69,000
Hard Rock StadiumMiami, FL65,000
Camping World StadiumOrlando, FL65,000
GEODIS ParkNashville, TN30,000
TQL StadiumCincinnati, OH26,000
Inter&Co StadiumOrlando, FL25,000
Audi FieldWashington, DC20,000

2025 Club World Cup format

Every four years, the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup will be contested over the course of a month, and be formatted with a group stage and a knockout stage that will be familiar to many football fans, as it has been utilised for both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League in the past (although both systems are set to be replaced in the coming edition of those competitions).

The 32 teams will be drawn into a group stage featuring eight groups of four, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.

From there, 16 teams will contest the single-elimination knockout stage, progressing from the Round of 16 through to the final. Notably, there will be no third-place playoff in this tournament.

What is the FIFA Intercontinental Cup?

With the Club World Cup moving to a four-year cycle, just like the international World Cup, FIFA has crafted a brand new tournament — based on an old one — to be played on an annual basis.

The FIFA Intercontinental Cup will debut in 2024, which will be similar (but not an exact replica) of the current, soon-to-be replaced Club World Cup.

The name is taken from the defunct showpiece match played between the champions of Europe and South America, which ran from 1960 until 2004.

In the Intercontinental Cup, the global continental champions will play through a single-elimination knockout tournament. Unlike the current Club World Cup, where the CONMEBOL and UEFA champions are given byes to the semifinals, the UEFA champion will be immediately awarded a place in the Intercontinental Cup final, against the qualifier who emerges from the earlier rounds of the competition.

The competition will be formatted as follows:

Round 1:

  • Sep. 22:Al Ain (2023/24 AFC Champions League winner)6-2 Auckland City (2024 OFC Champions League winner)

Round 2:

  • Oct. 29:Al Ain vs. Al Ahly(2023/24 CAF Champions League winner)
  • Dec. 11:Pachuca (2023/24 CONCACAF Champions Cup winner) vs. TBD (2024 CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores winner)

Playoff (December 14, 2024):

  • Round 2 winner vs. Round 2 winner

Final (December 18, 2024):

  • Playoff winner vs. Real Madrid (2023/24 UEFA Champions League winner)

*The AFC Champions League winner and CAF Champions League winner will rotate Round 1 and Round 2 qualification on an annual basis, with an initial draw determining that 2024 would see AFC into Round 1 and CAF into Round 2.

Club World Cup 2025 in USA: Confirmed teams, format, dates, venues for FIFA tournament with expanded field | Sporting News (2024)

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