Chelsea and Man City lead English interest in next year’s Club World Cup to fill the void next summer despite no European Championship or World Cup. Fifa has found yet another way to shoehorn more fixtures into the calendar and keep squads busy during the off-season.
The expanded Fifa Club World Cup will take place, hosted in Miami and with no fewer than 32 teams taking part across almost a month of action – something several players have already spoken out against in an increasingly congested line of work. Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola’s side represent the Premier League, having recently lifted Champions League titles in the Uefa zone, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the other European sides involved. From around the rest of the world, the likes of Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan, Mexico’s Monterrey and Brazilian quartet Flamengo, Fluminense, Palmeiras and Botafogo are all competing – as are the big two from Argentina.
The draw for the group stage takes place on Thursday and clubs will find out their first three opponents, with eight groups leading the top two in each to go to the round of 16 and beyond in the knockout stage. Follow the buildup and Club World Cup main draw in our live blog below:
Fifa Club World Cup group stage draw – live
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32 teams taking part in tournament over summer 2025
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Chelsea and Man City represent the Premier League
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Every continental governing body has at least one team involved
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Rules: Max 2 Uefa teams per group, seedings and pathways explained
Fifa Club World Cup draw – live
17:36 , Karl Matchett
So here are the rules around the upcoming draw, with them being somewhat similar to the ones used in the actual World Cup.
There will be either one or a maximum of two Uefa clubs in each group, and no other confederations will have more than one team per group.
Also, Uefa teams from the same country cannot be together – so no Man City v Chelsea in the group stage, for instance.
Once we get to the knockouts, it’s the winners of A, C, E and G paired with the runners-up of B, D, F and H. Obviously vice-versa too for the other side of the draw.
That, plus the seedings, means Uefa and Conmebol teams ranked 1-2 and 3-4 cannot meet each other until the semis if they win their groups.
We’ll also have Uefa sides ranked 5-8 definitely with Conmebol’s 1-4, and Uefa’s 9-12 will be in the same group as those ranked 1-4.
Fifa Club World Cup draw – live
17:27 , Karl Matchett
Probably worth detailing where the rest of the games will be played too. Fifa have confirmed that 12 venues in 11 cities over the USA will be used for the competition:
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Rose Bowl, California
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MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
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Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
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Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
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Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Lumen Field, Seattle
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Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
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Camping World Stadium, Orlando
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Inter & Co Stadium, Orlando
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Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee
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TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
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Audi Field, Washington DC
Fifa Club World Cup draw – live
17:18 , Karl Matchett
Here’s the schedule (more or less) for the tournament itself:
The group stage runs from 15 June and should last about two weeks – we don’t quite have set dates yet.
There are eight groups of four and the top two go through to the knockouts, with the last 16 starting around the end of June/start of July, then quarters and semis to of course be played too.
And lastly, the final itself is on 13 July 2025, to be played at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Fifa Club World Cup group stage draw
17:12 , Jack Rathborn
Fifa finally agree massive $1bn broadcast deal for Club World Cup – one day before draw takes place
17:05 , Jack Rathborn
Streaming platform DAZN has agreed a worldwide deal to broadcast Fifa’s controversial Club World Cup free to air.
Club sources have previously expressed frustration and concern at Fifa’s failure to sell rights until now for next summer’s tournament in the United States, which has been the catalyst for legal actions against football’s world governing body from player unions and domestic leagues over its scheduling.
Reports in recent months have suggested Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) could purchase a one billion US dollar (£787.6m) stake in DAZN. The platform has done deals within the last year to screen the Saudi Pro League in some European territories, including the UK, as well as for the Riyadh Season boxing bouts and the Six Kings Slam tennis event in the Middle East kingdom.
Separately, Reuters cited reports saying the deal was worth $1bn and that it was only for this edition of the revamped tournament.
Fifa finally agree massive broadcast deal for Club World Cup – one day before draw
Fifa Club World Cup draw – live
16:55 , Karl Matchett
Let’s have a full rundown of all the teams involved then:
Uefa
Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Dortmund, Inter Milan, Benfica, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Red Bull Salzburg
Conmebol
Flamengo, Palmeiras, Fluminense, Botafogo, River Plate, Boca Juniors
Caf
Ah Ahly, Wydad AC, Esperance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns
Afc
Al Hilal, Ulsan HD, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain
Concacaf
Monterrey, Leon, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders, Inter Miami
Ofc
Auckland City
Fifa Club World Cup draw – live
16:45 , Jack Rathborn
So we have 32 clubs, two of which are from the Premier League.
Manchester City and Chelsea both have bigger things to think about this week – midweek action where they both won, then big games immediately coming up at the weekend – but they are the representatives this summer who face a month of competitive action after the 2024/25 finishes.
Such is the price of success – they’re in as a result of winning the Champions League recently.
Fifa Club World Cup draw – live
16:22 , Karl Matchett
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Club World Cup. Like the competition itself, we’ve expanded significantly: from merely covering the final to bringing you the draw in its entirety, as Fifa have decided 32 clubs need to be involved and the competition needs to last a month.
So here we are, six months and more before it starts, with pomp and ceremony and all the heart-stopping anticipation of whether your favourite former continental champions will be playing Porto, Ulsan or Al-Hilal.