Manchester City will play Juventus, and the Seattle Sounders will face PSG and Atlético Madrid, in the inaugural Club World Cup, which began to take shape at a draw Thursday in Miami.
The other U.S. team involved, Inter Miami, drew Palmeiras from Brazil, Porto from Portugal, and Al Ahly from Egypt in Group A.
On paper, to some, it looked like a winnable group for Lionel Messi and Co., whom FIFA essentially gifted a spot in the tournament, likely to elevate its marketability. But the Group A draw also opened up FIFA’s worst-case scenario: a group-stage exit for Miami without a high-profile matchup.
The Club World Cup is a novel venture organized and championed by FIFA, one that the global governing body desperately wants to succeed. For years, it’s been riddled with uncertainty. But with a broadcaster recently secured, and now with the draw complete, it can charge ahead toward liftoff.
At the draw, the 32 teams — 12 from Europe, six from South America, five from North and Central America, four apiece from Asia and Africa, one from Oceania — were placed into eight groups, much like national teams have been at FIFA’s original, uber-popular World Cup.
They were, though, seeded and subject to certain “constraints,” which preempted the formation of a classic “group of death.”
The toughest group is probably Seattle’s, Group B, with South American champion Botafogo joining PSG, Atlético Madrid and the Sounders.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup draw took place in Miami on Thursday, with 32 teams learning their opponents and paths to a new trophy. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Another intriguing threesome appeared in Group C, which features Bayern Munich, Benfica and Boca Juniors. But the fourth team, Auckland City from New Zealand, is widely assumed to be the worst in the 32-team field.
The weakest groups are probably Chelsea’s and Borussia Dortmund’s. Chelsea is joined in Group D by Flamengo from Brazil, León from Mexico and Espérance from Tunisia. Dortmund was drawn into Group F with Fluminense from Brazil, Ulsan from South Korea, and Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa.
The full groups are below, followed by a recap of Yahoo Sports’ live coverage.
The entire 2025 Club World Cup schedule — complete with dates, locations and perhaps kickoff times — is expected to be finalized and released in the coming hours or days.
Full 2025 Club World Cup draw
GROUP A
1. Palmeiras (Brazil) 2. Porto (Portugal) 3. Al Ahly (Egypt) 4. Inter Miami (U.S.)
GROUP B
1. PSG (France) 2. Atlético Madrid (Spain) 3. Botafogo (Brazil) 4. Seattle Sounders (U.S.)
GROUP C
1. Bayern Munich (Germany) 2. Auckland City (New Zealand) 3. Boca Juniors (Argentina) 4. Benfica (Portugal)
1. River Plate (Argentina) 2. Urawa Reds (Japan) 3. Monterrey (Mexico) 4. Inter Milan (Italy)
GROUP F
1. Fluminense (Brazil) 2. Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 3. Ulsan (South Korea) 4. Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
GROUP G
1. Manchester City (England) 2. Wydad (Morocco) 3. Al Ain (UAE) 4. Juventus (Italy)
GROUP H
1. Real Madrid (Spain) 2. Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) 3. Pachuca (Mexico) 4. RB Salzburg (Austria)
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER27 updates
Takeaways from the draw
Three takeaways:
1. Seattle is probably the biggest losers of the draw. The Sounders got an extremely tough group … but without a true headliner like Real Madrid or Bayern that would have huge neutral-fan appeal.
2. Inter Miami’s group is fascinating. All three games seem winnable … but, depending on form over the next six months, Messi and co. might not be favored in any of them. It’s wide open.
3. There is no true group of death. Group C could have been, but Auckland City makes it much less interesting.
And some other matchups to look forward to:
1. Real Madrid vs. Al Hilal
2. River Plate vs. Inter Milan (and Monterrey vs. both of them)
3. Boca Juniors vs. Benfica and Bayern Munich
All eight groups, now that the draw is complete
GROUP A
1. Palmeiras (Brazil) 2. Porto (Portugal) 3. Al Ahly (Egypt) 4. Inter Miami (U.S.)
GROUP B
1. PSG (France) 2. Atlético Madrid (Spain) 3. Botafogo (Brazil) 4. Seattle Sounders (U.S.)
GROUP C
1. Bayern Munich (Germany) 2. Auckland City (New Zealand) 3. Boca Juniors (Argentina) 4. Benfica (Portugal)
1. River Plate (Argentina) 2. Urawa Reds (Japan) 3. Monterrey (Mexico) 4. Inter Milan (Italy)
GROUP F
1. Fluminense (Brazil) 2. Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 3. Ulsan (South Korea) 4. Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
GROUP G
1. Manchester City (England) 2. Wydad (Morocco) 3. Al Ain (UAE) 4. Juventus (Italy)
GROUP H
1. Real Madrid (Spain) 2. Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) 3. Pachuca (Mexico) 4. RB Salzburg (Austria)
Inter Miami’s full group is…
1. Palmeiras (Brazil) 2. Porto (Portugal) 3. Al Ahly (Egypt) 4. Inter Miami (U.S.)
There’s no giant in there. But you could also argue that Miami is the worst of the four teams. Al Ahly has won three of the past four African Champions League titles.
The Sounders also get Botafogo …
… who are, on current form, the best team in South America. They lead Brazil’s Serie A, and just won the Copa Libertadores.
Seattle will be a heavy underdog in all three of its group matches. The full Group B:
1. PSG (France) 2. Atlético Madrid (Spain) 3. Botafogo (Brazil) 4. Seattle Sounders (U.S.)
The groups so far
Here’s how things stand at the halfway point:
GROUP A
1. Palmeiras (Brazil) 2. Porto (Portugal) 3. 4. Inter Miami (U.S.)
GROUP B
1. PSG (France) 2. Atlético Madrid (Spain) 3. 4. Seattle Sounders (U.S.)
1. Manchester City (England) 2. 3. 4. Juventus (Italy)
GROUP H
1. Real Madrid (Spain) 2. 3. 4. RB Salzburg (Austria)
Manchester City gets Juventus
That, along with PSG vs. Atlético Madrid, will be the biggest matchup of two European giants in the group stage.
Seattle Sounders get a much tougher draw than Miami…
They’ll play PSG and Atlético Madrid in Group B. That’s tough.
Seattle would need to pull off a pretty significant upset to advance.
Inter Miami will play Palmeiras and Porto
They’re three of the four teams in Group A.
And FIFA is probably disappointed with that. There’ll be no Messi-vs.-European giant in the group stage.
The Pot 1 draw…
No real takeaways yet, but for those keeping track…
Group A: Palmeiras
Group B: PSG
Group C: Bayern Munich
Group D: Flamengo
Group E: River Plate
Group F: Fluminense
Group G: Manchester City
Group H: Real Madrid
To be clear, this does not mean that Man City and Real Madrid will meet in the first knockout round. It’s all very confusing.
Seattle Sounders learn an opponent…
They’ll be in Group B. And PSG was just drawn into Group B as the top seed, the first European team out of Pot 1.
Ivanka Trump draws the first team…
… and it’s Palmeiras.
That means they’ll go into Group A, and play Inter Miami in the group stage.
About to get underway…
… at around 1:35 p.m. ET, for those keeping track.
Pot 1 will be up first.
Explaining the “draw constraints”
They just explained the procedure on the broadcast. It’s complicated. Here are the key points:
Man City and Real Madrid, as the top two teams, must go to groups whose winners will stay on opposite sides of the knockout bracket. (One side is Group A, C, E and G; the other is B, D, F and H.) Bayern Munich and PSG, as seeds Nos. 3 and 4, will also be sent to opposite sides. And they’ll be placed to ensure that none of the four European superpowers could meet before the semifinals if they all win their groups. (The same exact principles apply to Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 from South America.)
The top four teams from Pot 2 — Chelsea, Dortmund, Inter and Porto — must be placed in groups with a South American team from Pot 1. The rest of Pot 2 — Atléti, Benfica, Juve and Salzburg — will be paired with a fellow European club from Pot 1.
Teams from the same country can’t be in the same group — meaning Atlético Madrid can’t draw Real Madrid.
Beyond the four pairings of European teams, no two clubs from the same continent can be grouped together.
Inter Miami will get Position 4 in Group A, and Seattle will get Position 4 in Group B, so that they can play the opening games of the tournament (against teams from Pot 3).
As we explained earlier, it’s helpful to think about the first two pots as Pots 1A, 1B, 2B and 2A:
Pot 1A (Europe top seeds): Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, PSG
Pot 1B (South America top seeds): Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense
Pot 2A (Europe bottom seeds): Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus, RB Salzburg
Pot 2B (Europe middle seeds): Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto
The Pot 1A teams must be paired with the Pot 2A teams; the Pot 1B teams must be paired with the Pot 2B teams.
It’s 1:25 p.m. ET…
… and Gianni Infantino is still onstage.
No sign of pots or the orbs that will be used to draw teams into groups.
But they did just call up former Italian forward Alessandro Del Piero, who will apparently be the “draw conductor.”
FIFA president Infantino and “Fenômeno” reveal the prize
Donald Trump appears…
… via video. That was random — and, of course, political.
Trump and Infantino are tight. In the pre-recorded video message, he called Infantino only by his first name, “Gianni.”
He isn’t in Miami today for the draw, but Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are. Infantino gave them a shoutout.
Don’t expect the actual draw to start anytime soon…
These events are insufferably long and often cringey.
This one was slated to start at 1 p.m. ET. It started at 1:04 with a long musical video interlude. Now Gianni Infantino, the self-important FIFA president, is talking.
Highly doubt we’ll get any teams drawn before 1:30 p.m. ET.
The draw appears to be delayed…
It’s 1:04 p.m. ET. Neither DAZN’s stream nor the FIFA+ stream has started.
