FIFA Club World Cup 2025: The Format and How Teams Qualify

Lionel Messi will be front and center of this year's new-look FIFA Club World Cup.

The FIFA Club World Cup. / Neal Simpson/IMAGO

The FIFA Club World Cup has been given a major revamp ahead of its 21st edition next year.

Previously, the tournament was contested between just seven teams—one from each of FIFA’s six continental confederations and another from the host nation.

Now, no less than 32 teams will take part, and it will be held every four years, as opposed to annually.

Next year, those teams, which include David Beckham's Inter Miami, will face off across a jam-packed four weeks in the United States between June 15 and July 13.

What is the Format of the FIFA Club World Cup?

The format of the 2025 Club World Cup will mimic that of both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

The 32 teams are first to be drawn into eight groups of four, where they will play each other once.

The winners and runners-up of each group then filter into a knockout tournament consisting of four stages—a round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and a final.

If there's a draw in any of the knockout stages, extra-time and penalties will determine who progresses.

Manchester City are the most recent winners of the Club World Cup. / David Blunsden/IMAGO

How do Teams Qualify for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?

Teams from each of world soccer's six international confederations—AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA—will be present at the 2025 Club World Cup.

Each confederation has been given a specific number of slots based on its strength.

There are 12 slots for teams from Europe, and six for teams from South America. Asia, Africa and North and Central America have four slots each, while Oceania has just one.

The final slot is given to a club from the host nation.

In the case of the dozen clubs from Europe, who qualifies is based on clubs’ Champions League performances across the last four seasons. Winners of the tournament qualify automatically, while the competition's other best-performing sides in the same period make up the numbers.

These same rules apply to South America.

The last four winners of the Copa Libertadores qualify automatically, while the tournament's two next-best teams also make the cut.

For Asia, Africa, and North and Central America, because they only have four spots each, the last four winners of each continent's respective top club competition qualify. For Oceania, because it only has one spot, the highest-ranking club out of the last four winners of the OFC Champions League qualifies.

What happens if there's a repeat winner of the Champions League, Copa Libertadores, and so on? That slot is simply passed down to the next best-performing side that hasn't won the tournament.

Who has Qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup?

FIFA has imposed a two team-per-nation rule for the new Club World Cup. Once met, no other team from that country can qualify. It means than next year, a number of Europe's biggest clubs, including FC Barcelona, Liverpool, and Napoli, will miss out.

There is a caveat, however.

All continental champions have a right to play at the Club World Cup, so if there's more than two from any given nation across the last four seasons, they all qualify, eating up the spots for the non-winning, best-performing teams.

Mexico and Brazil, for example, will respectively have three and four clubs present at the 2025 Club World Cup because they've dominated the Concacaf Champions Cup and CONMEBOL Libertadores in recent years.

Here's a list of all 31 teams who have qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup on merit, as well as details on how exactly they made it.

The draw for the tournament's group stage takes place on December 5.

Clubs Qualified as Continental Champions

• Al Ahly (Egypt)—2020/21, 2022/23 and 2023/24 CAF Champions League
• Wydad (Morocco)—2021/22 CAF Champions League
• Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)—2021 AFC Champions League
• Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)—2022 AFC Champions League
• Al Ain (United Arab Emirates)—2023/24 AFC Champions League
• Chelsea (England)—2020/21 UEFA Champions League
• Real Madrid (Spain)—2021/22 and 2023/24 UEFA Champions League
• Manchester City (England)—2022/23 UEFA Champions League
• Monterrey (Mexico)—2021 Concacaf Champions Cup
• Seattle Sounders (United States)—2022 Concacaf Champions Cup
• Club Leon (Mexico)—2023 Concacaf Champions Cup
• Pachuca (Mexico)—2024 Concacaf Champions Cup
• Palmeiras (Brazil)—2021 CONMEBOL Libertadores
• Flamengo (Brazil)—2022 CONMEBOL Libertadores
• Fluminense (Brazil)—2023 CONMEBOL Libertadores
• Botafogo (Brazil)—2024 CONMEBOL Libertadores

Clubs Qualified Through Ranking

• Bayern Munich (Germany)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Paris Saint-Germain (France)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Inter Milan (Italy)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Porto (Portugal)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Benfica (Portgual)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Juventus (Italy)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Atletico Madrid (Spain)—UEFA ranking pathway
• FC Salzburg (Austria)—UEFA ranking pathway
• Auckland City (New Zealand)—OFC ranking pathway
• Ulsan HD FC (South Korea)—AFC ranking pathway
• ES Tunis (Tunisia)—CAF ranking pathway
• Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)—CAF ranking pathway
• River Plate (Argentina)—CONMEBOL ranking pathway
• Boca Juniors (Argentina)—CONMEBOL ranking pathway

Lionel Messi. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Why Did Inter Miami Qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup?

Inter Miami qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup as the host nation's club.

FIFA opted to award Miami a place at the tournament because the Floridians won the most recent MLS Supporters’ Shield, which is the trophy given to the team for boasting the best regular-season record.

2023 MLS champions Columbus Crew were overlooked.

The move has been seen by some as FIFA's way of ensuring that Lionel Messi, who is arguably soccer's best-ever player, is present and can ramp up the interest in a competition that has yet to fund a buyer for its television rights.

The Times' Martin Samuel described the decision to include Miami and not the Crew at the 2025 Club World Cup as "classic FIFA corruption."

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