Too many matches, too busy schedules? No problem for Fifa, which formalizes the holding of a Club World Cup. In addition to the Intercontinental Cup, which will take place every year, Fifa will inaugurate a 32-club World Cup in 2025. This will be every four years. Almost the same format as for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with four groups of eight, the first two in each group will qualify for the 8th, with dry matches until the final. No match for third place.
“Clubs play a fundamental role in world football and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be a major milestone in providing clubs from all confederations with an ideal stage to shine at the highest level of the game,” assures the president. of FIFA, Gianni Infantino. He added: “It will be an open competition based on sporting merit and will play a key role in our efforts to make football truly global.”
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In this case, there will be four African teams, four from Asia, four from the Concacacaf zone (Central and North America), one from Oceania, six from South America and a representative from the host country. The lion’s share for Europe with 12 representatives, including the last four winners of the Champions League (Chelsea, Real, Man. City and the future winner in 2024) and eight teams qualified via the UEFA ranking. Which is good for Paris Saint-Germain, which will therefore be part of the party in 2025, in the United States. Bayern, Inter, Porto and Benfica will also be there, while there are still three places available this way for clubs from the Old Continent.
For PSG, this qualification represents a positive element, despite the accumulation of matches and already insane calendars, not to mention the new C1 format for next year. A participation synonymous with major exposure for Parisian players and substantial revenue for the club. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has also largely pushed in this direction. Fifa needed the agreement of the ECA, the representative body of European clubs. The president’s name is… Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.
According to our information, Fifa was aiming for a much more substantial format, but the ECA successfully tried to calm things down. It also insisted on the predominance of European clubs and on the distribution of revenue, which will also benefit the clubs who will not qualify.