The revised FIFA Club World Cup is scheduled to be held for the first time in 2025 with 32 teams participating; The USA hosts the 2025 edition, which will then be held every four years; Chelsea, Real Madrid and last season’s Champions League winner Manchester City lead the European qualifiers, while Liverpool and Manchester United are absent
by Kafe Solhekul, Sky Sports News’ chief correspondent
18:45 UK time, Sunday 17 December 2023
Liverpool and Manchester United have been excluded from playing in the new FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held for the first time in the summer of 2025.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Council, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, approved the qualification criteria, stressing that a maximum of two teams from one country can qualify for the new tournament, which includes 32 teams.
England’s places will go to recent Champions League winners Chelsea and Manchester City.
Until the qualification criteria were confirmed on Sunday, Liverpool had a chance to qualify based on their performances in the Champions League over the past three seasons.
Arsenal can qualify but only if they win the Champions League this season.
The two-club cap is raised if there are more than one Champions League winners from one country during the four-year qualifying cycle.
Europe will have 12 clubs in the 32-team tournament, and spaces will be allocated based on performance in the Champions League over four seasons from 2020-21 through this season.
Manchester City arrives in Jeddah in preparation for their Club World Cup match against Urawa Reds
The winners of the Champions League through the four-year qualifying cycle automatically qualify, meaning Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City have already booked their places for the tournament, which will be held in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025.
FA President Debbie Hewitt is a member of the FIFA Council and attended the meeting in person along with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin who attended remotely via video link.
Depending on the prize money and the size of broadcast and marketing deals, participating clubs are expected to earn around £50 million from the tournament, which will be held every four years.
The 12 European spaces are allocated according to the Champions League coefficient.
The Portuguese teams Porto and Benfica qualified alongside Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid due to their shared classification. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan also qualified.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, German teams Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, and Italian League clubs Juventus, Napoli and Lazio are competing with Red Bull Salzburg for three or four of the remaining seats.
Real Sociedad, Eindhoven and Copenhagen face the same situation as Arsenal and will need to win the Champions League this season in order to qualify.
From South America, Brazilian clubs Palmeiras, Flamengo and Fluminense qualified as champions, while Asian clubs Al Hilal and Urawa Red Diamonds also qualified.
Al-Ahly and Wydad also qualified from Africa, while Monterrey, Seattle Sounders and Club Lyon qualified from North America.
Auckland City from Oceania secured the lead with no other team in a position to go beyond their points tally.
Director of the Saudi Football League, Michael Emenalo, downplayed the importance of the relationship between Newcastle’s owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and the four major clubs they own in Saudi Arabia.
FIFA will confirm the tournament’s venues in 2024, but it is likely that they will all be on the east coast of the United States, as the Gold Cup is being held at the same time on the west coast.
The tournament will be in a classic World Cup format with 32 teams participating, divided into eight groups of four teams. The top two teams advance to the knockout stage, where the finalists play seven matches.
Teams will have three days off between matches and there will be no third-place match.
CEO of the Professional Players Association, Mulango: Players have become pawns
CEO of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Maheta Molango:
“The decision to go ahead with another expanded summer tournament – adding more and more games to a fixture list that has already reached the bursting point – only confirms that any expression of concern for the well-being of players is merely pretentious.
“Ultimately, players became pawns in a battle for priority between football’s governing bodies, with no one willing to step back or work collaboratively to create a sustainable calendar.
“These decisions have consequences – not just for the players who are pressured to break, but for the future quality of these tournaments, as players get injured or withdraw from matches as they make their own decisions about how to manage what have become ridiculous demands.” “.
FIFPRO: Not caring about players
Statement from FIFPRO:
“Today’s decision by the FIFA Council to schedule the first edition of the FIFA Club World Cup with the participation of 32 teams between 15 June and 13 July without implementing further safeguards for players’ workloads demonstrates a lack of consideration for the mental and physical health of the participating players, as well as a disregard for their personal and family lives.
“The expanded competition will undermine the rest and recovery time for these players at the end of the 2024-25 season, and will further disrupt national labor markets by changing the balance between national and international competitions. Players will have to perform at the end of the season.” An 11-month season with little chance of getting enough rest before the next season starts.
“The intense mental and physical pressures at the peak of the game are a primary concern for players taking part in many club and national team competitions, leading to burnout, physical injuries, mental health problems, decreased performance and risks to the longevity of their careers. These pressures have repeatedly been voiced with concerns. Regarding the increasing workload on national players’ unions.
“However, once again, decisions to expand the scope of competitions were made without implementing proper safeguards, and without any input from the players who are at the forefront of enhancing the game’s popularity and generating revenue with their skills and endeavours. Unfortunately, FIFA’s announcement last March did not see 2023 The Working Group on Player Welfare Principles has not received any follow-up and requests from FIFPRO to launch this process have not been responded to.
“Consequently, FIFA’s current process for addressing the global issue of fixture scheduling has not only excluded players’ associations over the future format of competitions, but has ignored the voice of players when it comes to their health, well-being and performance. As a matter of urgency, FIFA is calling on FIFA to facilitate discussions with all Football stakeholders around the introduction of a core set of player health and safety regulations to support the wellbeing of professional footballers.
The world of football was shaken up with the recent announcement from FIFA regarding the expansion of the Club World Cup to include 32 teams starting in 2025. While the news has been met with excitement from fans and clubs alike, there has also been some controversy surrounding the exclusion of traditional powerhouses like Liverpool and Manchester United. However, the inclusion of Chelsea and Manchester City has drawn widespread attention, setting the stage for what is sure to be an exhilarating and highly anticipated tournament.