A new FIFA Club World Cup format launches next summer, with two Premier League teams – and Lionel Messi – involved.
The new-look Club World Cup will feature 32 teams and will be played every four years from the summer of 2025.
It is an expansion of the previous version of the tournament, which took place every year and involved just seven teams from around the world.
But how does the tournament work and which teams will be involved? Sky Sports answers your questions below…
What is the Club World Cup?
Before its revamp for the 2025 tournament, the Club World Cup took place every year in December and was contested by the winners of continental club competitions from around the world.
For example, the winners of the UEFA Champions League would take part in the tournament every year and face off against continental counterparts from 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 would take place every four years.
To replace the annual competition, an Intercontinental Cup will be played annually and have the UEFA Champions League winner playing in the final against a team that comes through intercontinental playoffs.
When is the 2025 Club World Cup?
The next Club World Cup will take place over 29 days in the summer of 2025.
The tournament starts on June 15, with the final taking place on July 13.
Where is the 2025 Club World Cup?
The 2025 Club World Cup takes place in the United States across 12 stadiums:
Who qualifies for the Club World Cup?
Europe has 12 clubs in the 32-team 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.
For the 2025 competition, the winners of the Champions League over the last three seasons – Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City – will be joined by the best-performing sides in the tournament in the same period, with Bayern Munich, PSG and Inter qualifying through the ranking route.
The Asian Football Confederation, African Federation and the North American Federation get four teams each based on the winners and best-performing teams in their respective Champions League competitions, while the South American federation will get six teams who perform the best in the Copa Libertadores.
One slot goes to one team from the Oceania Football Confederation – the best performing team in the OFC Champions League over the last four years, with the final slot going to an additional team from the host nation.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami have taken that spot after inning the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield, confirming them as the best team throughout the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season.
Messi has won the Club World Cup on three occasions – 2009, 2011, 2015 – but while he is set to join the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe in the States, Cristiano Ronaldo will miss out, with Al-Hilal the only Saudi side to qualify.
The remaining slot will be determined by the outcome of the 2024 CONMEBOL Libertadores final to be played on November 30 in Buenos Aires.
List of qualified teams for 2025 Club World Cup
Europe
Oceania
South America
North America
Africa
Asia
What’s the format of the Club World Cup?
The tournament format works exactly the same as the FIFA World Cup, only for clubs.
The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams with the top two teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage.
The last 16 stage – the first single knockout round – then moves to the quarter-final, semi-final and then final. There is no third-placed play-off between the two losing semi-final teams.
When is the Club World Cup draw?
The draw for the 2025 Club World Cup is set to take place in December 2024, with FIFA still to confirm full details, seedings and the schedule.
Who are the current Club World Cup champions?
Manchester City added the Club World Cup to their trophy collection in 2023 as Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden helped them breeze to a 4-0 final win over Fluminense.