Announcing the "Expanded Club World Cup"... Here's everything you need to know
Announcing the "Expanded Club World Cup"... Here's everything you need to know
Al-Ahly of Egypt and Real Madrid are among the teams participating in the tournament
The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) announced that the organization of the Club World Cup in 2025 will be assigned to the United States, with the participation of 32 teams for the first time in the history of the tournament.
The tournament is held in its current system, with the participation of the continental champions every year, in addition to the champion of the host country, and the European and South American champions play, starting with the semi-finals, but the situation will differ radically, starting with the 2025 America version.
Tournament system
• The tournament will include 12 teams from Europe, 6 clubs from South America, 4 each from Africa, Asia and CONCACAF, and one team from Oceania, in addition to the representative of the United States.
• All continental champions in the period from 2021 to 2024 qualify directly for the championship, and in the event of a repeat champion, the classification will be resorted to.
• The classification decides the teams qualified for the World Cup in the continents that participate in more than 4 seats, namely the continents of Europe and South America.
• So far, 12 teams have qualified for the World Cup, and there are still 20 empty seats in the tournament that will be a preparation for the United States before hosting the World Cup for the following year, with the participation of Canada and Mexico.
• The teams that qualified are Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England), Chelsea (England), Flamengo (Brazil), Palmeiras (Brazil), Monterrey (Mexico), Club Leon (Mexico), Seattle Sounders (USA), Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), In addition to the Arab trio, Al-Ahly (Egypt) and Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia)and Wydad (Morocco).Do Saudi clubs dominate Mercato Europe?
An exceptional Arab participation• 3 Arab clubs have so far secured participation in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, and there is still a chance for more if any Arab team who did not qualify already wins the African Champions League or the 2024 AFC Champions League, to reserve the last seats in the two continents.
• Al-Ahly was the first to qualify for the tournament after winning the 2021 African Champions League title at the expense of South African Kaizer Chiefs in July 2021.
• Al-Hilal reserved the second Arab seat after winning the 2021 AFC Champions League title, after defeating South Korea's Pohang Steelers in the final.
• Wydad won the third Arab seat in the expanded World Cup, after winning the 2022 African Champions League title at the expense of Al-Ahly, the defending champion.
• Al-Ahly or Wydad may be given the opportunity for another Arab or African seat in the tournament if one of them wins the 2024 CAF Champions League, as the continental classification will be used to determine the qualifier with the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 champions.