Some of world football’s biggest names have qualified to play in the inaugural Mundial de Clubes FIFA, at which Oceania will be represented by Auckland City.
The 32-club competition is the revised version of the FIFA Club World Cup and will launch in the United States in 2025.
Main photo: European champions Manchester City have already qualified. Photo credit: FIFA.
So far, 21 clubs, including Auckland City, have secured their berths at the tournament.
They are:
Africa
Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
Al Ahly SC (Egypt)
Asia
Al Hilal SFC (Saudi Arabia)
Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
Europe
Chelsea FC (England)
Real Madrid CF (Spain)
Manchester City FC (England)
FC Bayern München (Germany)
BV Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Paris Saint-Germain FC (France)
FC Internazionale Milano (Italy)
Juventus FC (Italy)
FC Porto (Portugal)
SL Benfica (Portugal)
North and Central America, Caribbean
CF Monterrey (Mexico)
Seattle Sounders FC (United States)
Club León (Mexico)
Oceania
Auckland City FC (New Zealand)
South America
SE Palmeiras (Brazil)
CR Flamengo (Brazil)
Fluminense FC (Brazil)
Places in Europe (UEFA), Asia (AFC), South America (CONMEBOL), North, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf), Asia (AFC), and Africa (CAF) are still up for grabs.
Auckland City
Auckland City have secured Oceania’s single spot with an unassailable lead in the OFC rankings. The club has won the past two OFC Champions League tournaments and has qualified for the 2024 tournament to be held in Tahiti in May.
READ MORE: Auckland City qualify for revamped FIFA Club World Cup to be held in 2025 >>>>
How to monitor qualifications
FIFA have created an online tool that provides an up-to-date list of clubs that have qualified for the 2025 tournament.
The tool also provides confederation rankings to see which clubs are best placed to qualify.
ONLINE TOOL: Qualifiers for the Mundial de Clubes FIFA >>>>
Details of revamped FIFA Club World Cup
The first 32-club tournament will be staged from June 15 – July 13, 2025, in the United States.
Its official title will be Mundial de Clubes FIFA (FIFA Club World Cup).
Qualification for the tournament has two routes — one is via Champions League tournaments held by the confederations, and the other is “ranking pathway” methodology that tracks ongoing performance in those competitions.
FIFA says its “ranking pathway” will ensure “the highest quality possible based on sporting criteria over the most recent four seasons.”
Tournament format
The format of the competition will be same used as for the last men’s and women’s FIFA World Cups, except there will be no play-off for third place.
- A group stage composed of eight groups of four teams per group playing in a single-game round-robin format
- The top two teams per group progressing to the round of 16
- A direct single-match knockout stage from the round of 16 to the final
- No third-place play-off
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said:
“Clubs play a fundamental role in world football, and the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be a major milestone in providing clubs from all confederations with a fitting stage on which to shine at the highest level of the game.
“This will be an open competition based on sporting merit that will play a key role as part of our efforts to make football truly global.”
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the assistance of FIFA who provided information for this story.
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