Club World Cup: FIFA lets clubs enter their strongest teams in new tournament

Clubs participating in next summer’s Club World Cup will need to gather the strongest members and form the strongest team.

FIFA’s expanded new 32-team tournament will be held next summer in the United States from June 15th to July 13th.

Manchester City and Chelsea are the only English teams taking part, and FIFA rules do not allow players to miss the tournament after a long season of domestic and European football.

As a further measure to make the teams as strong as possible, FIFA has allowed the member associations of all participating teams to open a transfer window from 1 to 10 June 2025, with the tournament starting on 15 June 2025. It will be possible to register new contract players by.

Clubs will also be required to comply with specific requirements during the Restricted Competition Period from 27 June to 3 July, within set limits, including the fact that the club’s ‘standard’ registration period must be open at that time. Players may be substituted according to the restrictions.

Players whose contracts expire on June 30, 2025 will be allowed to extend their contracts until July 13 in order to play in the entire tournament. Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, for example, could take advantage of this special exemption if he had not previously extended his contract with City.

Tournament regulations also stipulate that no player can play for more than one team at the Club World Cup.

Playing in tournaments does not count against the rules that limit the number of clubs a player can represent to a maximum of three clubs in a season. Additionally, teams are not obligated to release players on international duty during the tournament.

The new regulations were agreed at the FIFA Executive Board meeting in Zurich on Thursday. FIFA wants to ensure that the best players can play in the tournament and believes the rules will ensure a level playing field for all participating clubs.

Meanwhile, European clubs are discussing proposals for major leagues to simultaneously close their summer transfer windows before the start of the season in mid-August.

What is the Club World Cup?

Until it was revamped for the 2025 tournament, the Club World Cup was held every December and contested by the winners of continental club competitions around the world.

For example, the winners of the UEFA Champions League participate in the tournament every year and face opponents from the continents of South America (CONMEBOL), Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF), North America (CONCACAF), and Oceania (OFC). ).

But then FIFA announced in December that the competition would be expanded to 32 club teams and held every four years.

As an alternative to the annual competition, the Intercontinental Cup is held every year, with the UEFA Champions League winners facing off against the winners of the intercontinental play-offs in the final.

How does the tournament work?

The format of the tournament is exactly the same as the FIFA World Cup, only for clubs.

The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams each, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the knockout stage.

The final 16 stages progress to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, but there will be no third-place match between the two losing teams in the semi-finals.

When is the lottery?

The draw for the 2025 Club World Cup will take place in December 2024.

Who will play in the Club World Cup in 2025?

Europe

manchester city
real madrid
chelsea
bayern munich
paris saint germain
Inter Milan
porto
Benfica
borussia dortmund
juventus
red ball salzburg
atlético madrid

Oceania

south america

palmeiras
flamengo
fluminense
river plate
boca juniors
TBD (based on 2024 Copa Libertadores winners)

North America

Monterrey
seattle sounders
Leon
pachuca
TBC (host country)

Africa

Al Ahly
Wydad
Esperance de Tunis
Mamelodi Sundowns

Asia

Al Hilal
Urawa Reds
Al Ain
Ulsan HD