The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup™ will be the first of its kind in history.
Here are five things you must know about the tournament’s new format.
The biggest Club World Cup ever
For the past 20 or so years, the annual FIFA Club World Cup™ was comprised of just six clubs – the six reigning continental champions from around the globe.
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But this year, for the first time, 32 clubs from around the world will descend upon the United States for what will be the biggest FIFA Club World Cup™ in history.
This format mirrors the FIFA World Cup™, which features international teams, although that tournament will also be expanded to 48 teams when it hits the United States in the summer of 2026.
Like the World Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup™ will now take place every four years instead of annually.
The 32 FIFA Club World Cup™ teams will be divided into eight groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stages. Then we will have Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, before the winner of the final will lift the trophy on 13th July.
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It should make for a very interesting watch.
How the teams qualified
📸 Scott Taetsch – 2025 Getty Images
Teams qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup™ through their performance in continental competitions and FIFA rankings over a four-year period.
So winning a competition like the UEFA Champions League or the Copa Libertadores leads to automatic Club World Cup qualification, but you can also qualify simply by performing consistently well in those competitions over the four years leading up to the FIFA Club World Cup™ (in this case 2020 to 2024).
Europe (or rather, the UEFA federation) will be represented by 12 clubs this year, including 2024 Champions League winners Real Madrid.
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CONMEBOL (the South American federation) will have six clubs, including 2024 Copa Libertadores winners Botafogo.
Four clubs each will come from the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa) and CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) federations, while New Zealand’s Auckland City will be the sole representative of the Oceania Football Confederation.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will appear at the FIFA Club World Cup™ as a specially designated host nation club.
And lastly, a special play-in match between Los Angeles FC and Club América was won by the MLS side to determine the final participant at the tournament.
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