In addition to the new Club World Cup, the world football association FIFA is planning another club competition with 32 teams every four years from 2025. From 2025 there will be an annual mini-tournament for the winners of the major competitions in the confederations – the Champions League winner from Europe will take part. FIFA’s decision-making body, the FIFA Council, agreed on a “strategic concept” for this on Tuesday in Kigali.
The winner of the European premier class is seeded for the final game, the opponent is the winner of the play-offs of the other continental winners. Further details are to be published soon.
The actual Club World Cup, which will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2023 in the old mini format, had been reformed in recent months. Europe will receive twelve starting places, South America six, Asia, Africa and the combination of North and Central America and the Caribbean four each, Oceania one. The host country is also firmly involved. From Europe, the winners of the Champions League of the past four years are sure to be there, the other places will be awarded according to a ranking from the same period.
Earlier, FIFA had decided to further inflate the World Cup. The already gigantic World Cup 2026 will be even bigger. According to a FIFA decision, 104 games will be kicked off at the finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico with 48 nations for the first time, 40 more than at the previous World Cups since 1998. The mega World Cup will last a good 40 days: more than a month of pure football – or over a month of football ad nauseam, depending on your perspective.
With the expansion plans, FIFA President Gianni Infantino is fulfilling the wishes and hopes of the many small world association members who are to elect him to a new term of office on Thursday.
