2025 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, also marketed as FIFA Club World Cup 25, was the 21st edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer competition organized by FIFA. This was also the first edition under the new expanded format. The tournament was held in the United States from June 14 to July 13, 2025, and featured 32 teams. The expanded format included the continental champions from the past four years as well as additional qualified teams. Chelsea won the tournament, defeating Paris Saint-Germain 3–0 in the final and becoming the inaugural world champions under the expanded format.
The revised structure was modeled more closely on the FIFA World Cup as a quadrennial world championship, replacing the annual seven-team format used between 2000 and 2023. It featured the winners of each continent's top club competition from 2021 to 2024, except for a single entry from Oceania. Additional slots were awarded to clubs from Europe and South America based on rankings across the same four-year period. Manchester City, who won the final edition under the previous format in 2023, entered as the technical title holders but were eliminated in the round of 16 by Al-Hilal.
FIFA first announced the expanded format in March 2019, originally selecting China to host the inaugural edition in 2021. This was later postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2023, FIFA confirmed the allocation of qualification slots among confederations, and four months later announced the United States as the new host nation. Alongside this expansion, FIFA also introduced the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, an annual tournament based on the previous Club World Cup format.
The expansion of the tournament drew varied responses, with some concerns raised by the players' union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum regarding potential effects on fixture schedules and player welfare. Ticket sales were managed using dynamic pricing, which was later adjusted for several matches to boost attendance. International broadcasting rights were secured by streaming service DAZN, which sublicensed coverage to other networks. A total of $1 billion in prize money was distributed among the 32 clubs, including solidarity payments and allocations by confederation.
It was the first major FIFA tournament since the 1978 FIFA World Cup not to feature a penalty shootout.
Background and format
Since its return from hiatus in 2005, the FIFA Club World Cup had been held annually in December and was limited to the winners of continental club competitions. As early as late 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino suggested expanding the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and rescheduling it to June/July to be more balanced and attractive to broadcasters and sponsors. In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years starting in 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup. The expanded format and schedule of Club World Cup, to be played in June and July 2021, was confirmed at the March 2019 FIFA Council meeting in Miami. China was appointed as host in October 2019, but the 2021 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic on association football|COVID-19 pandemic].On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States would host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage. However, the only difference from the format used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022 was that there was no third place playoff.
In January 2024, it was reported that the tournament would mainly take place on the East Coast to be closer to European broadcasters and viewers while also avoiding conflicts with the 2025 [CONCACAF Gold Cup], which also took place primarily in the United States around the same time, but mainly in the Western part of the country.
Trophy
FIFA unveiled a newly designed trophy created by Tiffany & Co. for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Made from pure 24-karat gold, the trophy's design drew inspiration from pioneering maps, the periodic table, astronomy, and the Voyager Golden Record. It featured laser-engraved details including a world map, the names of all 211 FIFA member associations, descriptions of football, and inscriptions in 13 languages, including braille. The trophy weighs approximately and is valued between €200,000 or US$230,000. The original trophy was kept by United States president Donald Trump in the Oval Office, while an identical replica was awarded to Chelsea, the first winners of the expanded tournament.Slot allocation
On February 14, 2023, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation for the 2025 tournament based on a "set of objective metrics and criteria". UEFA was awarded the most slots with twelve, while CONMEBOL was given the second most with six. The AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF were all given four slots, while the OFC and the host association were given one slot each. On March 14, 2023, the FIFA Council approved the key principles of the access list for the tournament. The principles were as follows, considering competitions completed during a four-year period from 2021 to 2024:- CONMEBOL and UEFA : access for the winners of the confederation's top club competition between 2021 and 2024, with additional teams to be determined by a club ranking of the four-year period.
- AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF : access for the winners of the confederation's top club competition between 2021 and 2024.
- OFC : access for the highest-ranked club among the winners of the confederation's top club competition between 2021 and 2024.
- Host country : this was determined at a later stage.
For confederations other than UEFA, the method was as follows:
- 3 points for a win
- 1 point for a draw
- 3 points for successful progression to each new stage of the competition
Teams
Qualification
The following teams qualified for the tournament:AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
UEFA
- Red Bull Salzburg
- Chelsea
- Manchester City
- Inter Milan
- Juventus
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Bayern Munich
- Borussia Dortmund
- Benfica
- Porto
- Atlético Madrid
- Real Madrid
Draw
The draw was held on December 5, 2024, 1:00p.m. EST, at the headquarters of television broadcaster Telemundo in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida. The ceremony was led by Alessandro Del Piero at the Telemundo headquarters. FIFA announced the draw procedure and seeding pots two days prior to the draw, taking into consideration sporting and geographical factors as far as possible.FIFA compiled the draw pots as follows, with teams ranked within each confederation based on FIFA's club ranking system:
- Pot 1: The four top-ranked teams from both UEFA and CONMEBOL
- Pot 2: The remaining eight teams from UEFA
- Pot 3: The two top-ranked teams from each of AFC, CAF and CONCACAF, and the remaining two teams from CONMEBOL
- Pot 4: The remaining teams from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, OFC and host country
To maintain competitive balance, two separate pathways of four groups were established for the knockout stage. They were composed as follows:
- Pathway 1: Winners of Groups A, C, E and G, paired with the runners-up of Groups B, D, F and H
- Pathway 2: Winners of Groups B, D, F and H, paired with the runners-up of Groups A, C, E and G
- UEFA teams ranked 1–2 and CONMEBOL teams ranked 1–2 were allocated to separate pathways, prevented from meeting until the semifinals should they win their groups
- UEFA teams ranked 3–4 and CONMEBOL teams ranked 3–4 were allocated to separate pathways, prevented from meeting until the semifinals should they win their groups
- UEFA teams ranked 1–4 were drawn into groups that would prevent them meeting until the semifinals should they win their groups
- CONMEBOL teams ranked 1–4 were drawn into groups that would prevent them meeting until the semifinals should they win their groups
- UEFA teams ranked 5–8 were drawn into groups with CONMEBOL teams ranked 1–4
- UEFA teams ranked 9–12 were drawn into groups with UEFA teams ranked 1–4
The draw started with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 4, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically, based on the draw constraints. For Groups C to H, the position for the team within the group was then drawn, with the Pot 1 teams automatically drawn into position 1 of each group.
The draw pots were as follows:
VenuesOn September 28, 2024, FIFA announced the selection of twelve venues in eleven cities for the tournament: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Audi Field in Washington D.C.; Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California; TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia; Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which hosted the opening match involving Inter Miami; Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee; Camping World Stadium and Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida; and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which hosted the final. Lumen Field hosted all three group stage matches for the Seattle Sounders. Of these selected stadiums, five will be used in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Contrary to other FIFA tournaments, including the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, all venues kept their original naming rights.Training basesAccording to a report from The Athletic, FIFA designated sites in host cities for team training bases, with priority given to clubs that had more matches in the area. Clubs were permitted to independently negotiate with other facility owners and operators, including several college athletic programs, to secure their own base. Several facilities were also designated by FIFA for use later in the tournament by qualified teams in the knockout rounds. The team base camps for the group stage were confirmed by FIFA on June 3, 2025.Match officialsOn April 14, 2025, FIFA confirmed that 117 match officials from 41 member associations would be selected for the tournament. This included 35 referees, 58 assistant referees, and 24 video match officials.
ScheduleOn December 17, 2023, FIFA announced the tournament would take place from June 15 to July 13, 2025. Prior to the draw, only the date and venue of the opening match and final was confirmed, along with the venue for the group stage matches of Seattle Sounders FC. The full match schedule with venues and kickoff times was finalized and published on December 7, 2024, following the draw. The start date of the tournament was altered, with the tournament beginning one day earlier on June 14. The schedule was created taking into account factors such as "sporting and player-centric criteria, local and traveling fans and global broadcast considerations".SquadsEach club was required to name a provisional squad of between 26 and 50 players for the tournament. From June 1 to 10, 2025, the member associations of all participating clubs implemented an extraordinary transfer window to allow for the registration of newly signed players. Clubs were required to name their final squads of between 26 and 35 players, including at least three goalkeepers, by June 10. During the competition, clubs could make limited changes to their final lists from June 27 to July 3, should the club's member association have a transfer window open during this period, though no player could appear for two clubs during the tournament. Should a club's goalkeeper have suffered from an injury or illness, that player could be replaced at any time.Opening ceremonyand Swae Lee headlined the opening ceremony, which took place at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium before the opening match between Al Ahly and Inter Miami CF. Singers Vikina and Richaelio also performed during the ceremony, which was broadcast on DAZN.Group stageIn the group stage, teams were divided into eight groups of four. Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin, from which the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage.
Group A-------- Group B-------- Group C-------- Group D-------- Group E-------- Group F-------- Group G-------- Group H-------- Knockout stageIn the knockout stage, if the scores were equal when normal playing time expired, extra time was played for two periods of 15 minutes each. This was followed, if required, by a penalty shootout to determine the winners.Round of 16-------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Quarterfinals-------- ---- Semifinals----StatisticsTop goalscorers1 own goal
AwardsThe following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.FIFA also named a man of the match for the best player in each game at the tournament.
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