Argentine club River Plate and UAE’s Al Ain are the latest to qualify for the revamped version of the FIFA Club World Cup to be contested by 32 clubs, including Auckland City.
River Plate — who have won their country’s Primera División 38 times — will participate in the Mundial de Clubes tournament to be held in the United States in June/July 2025.
Al Ain, winners of the United Arab Emirates Pro League 14 times, claimed their spot with victory at the AFC Champions League to complete the contingent of Asian clubs who have qualified.
A win in their most recent CONMEBOL Libertadores group stage game saw River Plate qualify, and join the Brazilian trio of former champions Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras, at next year’s tournament.
River Plate became the first Argentine qualifiers, and could still qualify as South American champions too, having secured progress to the round of 16.
However, as their place via the ranking pathway is already secured, and as only two teams per country can qualify, excluding champions, that could have major implications for domestic rivals Boca Juniors.
Not in this year’s CONMEBOL Libertadores, Boca are currently in the second qualifying position via the ranking pathway. However, if another of the Argentine clubs still in contention for the 2024 continental crown – Talleres, Estudiantes de La Plata, Rosario Central or San Lorenzo de Almagro – were to lift the trophy, River would still qualify for the tournament via the ranking pathway, and the ‘two clubs per country’ rule would mean Boca miss out regardless of their ranking.
Clubs who have qualified
So far, 28 clubs have secured their places at the 2025 tournament, with four more to be confirmed.
Africa
Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)
Al Ahly SC (Egypt)
Espérance Sportive (Tunisia)
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Asia
Al Hilal SFC (Saudi Arabia)
Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
Ulsan (Korea Republic)
Al Ain (United Arab Emirates)
Europe
Chelsea FC (England)
Manchester City FC (England)
Real Madrid CF (Spain)
Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
FC Bayern München (Germany)
BV Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
FC Salzburg (Austria)
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)
River Plate (Argentina)
Auckland City
Auckland City have secured Oceania’s single spot with an unassailable lead in the OFC rankings.
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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