The FIFA president had been dreaming of this for several years and it will happen in the coming months. While the idea has come up regularly since 2016, the new version of the Club World Cup will be held in the summer of 2025 after the project was postponed to 2021 following the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially planned for China, the competition will finally take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025 and will bring together 32 teams. This weekend with Botafogo’s victory against Atlético Mineiro in the Copa Libertadores final (3-1), we know the identity of the different participating clubs.
A nice plateau with PSG
There we obviously find the best teams in Europe who have won the last editions of the Champions League like Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City, but also Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Juventus. A French club is participating in the competition, it is Paris Saint-Germain for its rank in the UEFA ranking. Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto, Atlético de Madrid, Benfica and Salzburg are the other European participants. Due to the limit of two clubs per country on the number of participants imposed by UEFA, we notice many notable absentees such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham in the Premier League, FC Barcelona in La Liga or AC Milan in Serie A
With six tickets available, CONMEBOL advances with four Brazilian clubs, the last winners of the Copa Libertadores. Thus, Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo will defend the Auriverdes colors when the two big names from Buenos Aires, River Plate and Boca Juniors will also be there. On the Asian side, Al-Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al-Aïn and Ulsan Hyundai will be on the trip, as will Auckland City in Oceania. In North America, Mexican clubs (Monterrey, Club Leon and Pachuca) and American clubs (Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami) will try to spoil the party. The opportunity to see Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in action against the European leaders. Finally, Africa will have 4 quality representatives with Al Ahly, Wydad Cassablanca, Espérance Tunis and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Still gray areas
While the 32 teams will be divided into 8 groups of 4 teams with the first two qualifying for the round of 16, the draw will be held this Thursday, December 5 at 1 p.m. on the Miami side, i.e. at 7 p.m. French time. For the moment, however, we do not know the terms since no hat has been announced. However, we can already think that each group will be limited to one team per confederation except UEFA which will be able to have a maximum of two (12 teams for 8 groups) like what is done in the World Cup.
The identity of the twelve stadiums of the competition is known, but they have not yet been allocated to the different groups (even if we can imagine Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders playing at home). The twelve venues are located in Seattle, Pasadena, Miami, Orlando (two stadiums), Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Cincinnati, Washington, Philadelphia and East Rutherford. The MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford will also be the scene of the final on July 13.
