FIFA announces 32-team Club World Cup from 2025

 FIFA announced the launch of a new format for the Club World Cup. The tournament will include 32 teams, and it will start in 2025. The first edition of the new cup will be held from mid-June to mid-July in the United States.

This decision came after the FIFA meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, held ahead of the World Cup. The official name of the new event will be Mundial de Clubes FIFA and will feature clubs from each of the six confederations.

Qualifications for the Club World Cup

FIFA unanimously decided how the clubs would qualify for the Club World Cup. There are two methods in place, one for European clubs and one for the clubs from other confederations. This is because European clubs already compete in two more Leagues.

For clubs from Europe, the approved ranking states:

 2 points for a win
 1 point for a draw
 4 points for qualification for the group stage
 5 points for qualification for the round of 16
 1 point for progress to each stage of the competition thereafter.

Clubs from other regions will follow this ranking:

 3 points for a win
 1 point for a draw
 3 points for progress to each stage of the competition

Tournament Dates

The tournament's first edition will take place from 15 June to 13 July 2025. Setting these dates wasn't easy, as the teams and players needed to navigate the International Match Calendar. It's already pretty full, and the new schedule is required to leave time for players to rest between the matches.

The general rule is that the players must have at least three days between the matches played abroad to ensure their health and well-being. Bets can already be made on who will win the tournament. When choosing Bitcoin esports betting sites, use the ones with cashback and other lucrative promotional offers.

Clubs play a fundamental role in world football, and the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be a major milestone in providing clubs from all confederations with a fitting stage on which to shine at the highest level of the game," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

"This will be an open competition based on sporting merit that will play a key role as part of our efforts to make football truly global," Infantino added.

Player's Union Response

 The Global Players Union was not pleased with the decision as they found that it showed "a lack of consideration for players' mental and physical health, as well as a disregard for their personal and family lives." The Union calls on FIFA to "initiate discussions with all soccer stakeholders to introduce regulations on player health and safety to support the well-being of professional footballers."

The international calendar is already pretty busy, and with the introduction of another Cup, it just got a lot busier. The play-offs are also played abroad, which is additionally inconvenient for many players.

The Union issued the following statement on their social media:

 "The extreme mental and physical pressures at the pinnacle of the game is the principal concern of players with multiple club and national team competitions, leading to exhaustion, physical injuries, mental health issues, diminished performance, and risks to career longevity. They have repeatedly voiced concerns about mounting workload to their national player unions.

The Tournament Format

 FIFA also announced the tournament format. It will be set up as follows:

- A group stage composed of eight groups of four teams per group playing in a single-game round-robin format

- The top two teams per group progressing to the round of 16

- A direct single-match knockout stage from the round of 16 to the final

- No third-place play-off

This is the same format as the FIFA World Cup 2022 and FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, except that in these tournaments, there was a match for third place, and the decision not to have a play-off came as a surprise.

What Clubs Have Already Qualified

Europe will have 12 clubs in the tournament, and the spaces are allocated based on performances in the Champions League over four seasons from 2020-21 up to and including this season. This includes: Chelsea FC, Real Madrid CF, Manchester City FC, FC Bayern München (GER), Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA), FC Internazionale (ITA), FC Porto (POR), and SL Benfica (POR).

Brazilian sides Palmeiras, Flamengo, and Fluminense have qualified as champions from South America, while Asian sides Al Hilal and Urawa Red Diamonds are also through.

Al Ahly and Wydad have similarly qualified from Africa, while Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, and Club Leon are from North America.

Auckland City will be the only team from Oceania to qualify.

Venues for the New Tournament

 The Club World Cup will take place in the US; the exact venue is unknown. FIFA will confirm the exact venue in 2024, but will likely be somewhere on the East Coast. The Gold Cup is being held on the West Coast at the same time, so this is the convenient way to go.

The tournament will take place every four years, and the venues will be selected through a process similar to that used to choose the venue for the World Cup. It will be an excellent opportunity for local tourism wherever the Cup is held.

Masters' World Leagues Forum

The World Leagues Forum - run by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, has issued a complaint to FIFA about the new Cup. According to Masters, he wasn't consulted on the decision to set up the Cup, nor was the forum.

The Forum claims that adding one more international Cup puts a burden on the players and that the calendar is already overwhelming for many. They also stated that FIFA doesn't consider national leagues' needs but only pursues its own interests.

The letter sent to FIFA by the Master's World Leagues Forum states that "the constant growth in the volume of international club and national team matches is unsustainable for player welfare and for the scheduling of domestic football."

At the same time, the European Club Association didn't raise scheduling concerns and called setting up a new international cup "fantastic news."

How Will The Schedule Affect the Teams?

 When it comes to the European teams that have already qualified for the Club World Cup and whose schedules are known – this presents an additional burden that may be tough on players. Manchester City and Chelsea will play up to seven extra games in the USA within four weeks. The finals are held three weeks before the start of Premier League season 2025/26.

To Sum Up

FIFA has established a new international competition for clubs. It will be called the Club World Cup and will take place in 2025 in the US. The cup will feature players from all confederations, and the rules have been set up for how the teams will qualify. The first Cup will take place in the US, and the exact venue will be chosen in 2024.

FIFA also decided on the format, and it's similar to the format used for the World Cup, with a few minor differences. Some aren't thrilled with the new cup, as it places a lot of strain on the players who already have a full calendar. The Player's Union and The World Leagues Forum have stated their concerns.