FIFA Club World Cup: as it happened, draw, fixtures and updates
FIFA Club World Cup live online
Many thanks for joining us this evening and stay with AS for the latest reaction to the FIFA CWC draw.
Club World Cup draw
..and just like that, the draw is over.... nice one FIFA for a swift and to the point draw..... Don't forget, the tournament starts on 3 Feb. 2020 with Al Jazira set to play Auckland City and the final game set for 12 Feb.
Palmeiras will take on the winners of the Al-Ahly-Monterrey quarter final
Chelsea will face Al Jazira or Auckland City FC or Al Hilal SFC in the Semi-Final of the FIFA Club World Club
The winners of Al Jazira-Auckland will face Al-Hilal
Next team out is Al Ahly (EGY).... This will be their 7th CWC appearance and they play will Monterrey.
First team drawn is .... CF Monterrey (Mexico) and Los Rayados will play in Match 2 as team B
The path to the final is very much one for 'bracket' fans with a clear path to the finals.
The seven participants are:
Chelsea (UEFA)
Palmeiras (CONMEBOL)
Al-Alhy (CAF)
Al-Hilal (AFC)
Monterrey (CONCACAF)
Auckland City (OFC)
Al-Jazira (UAE hosts)
Big screen Zoom screen in the background....Bologna player Blerim Džemaili wll be on hand today to assist in the draw as Jaime Yarza (FIFA Draw director) talks us through the draw process.
Next up are a few words from the head of the UAE FA who is looking forward to hosting the competition and promises to deliver a successful tournament.
First up, a few words from FIFA chief G. Infantino who welcomes us to draw and acknowledges that football has struggled with the pandemic and thanks the UAE for stepping in to host the tournament after Japan had to pull out....
The presentation of the tournament emblem too will be hapening this evening !!!!
San Johnson is our hostess today in Zurich.
We're live from Zurich for the draw. If memory serves me well, the draw itself lasts, maximum five minutes but is padded out with scenes of goals being scored, fans celebrating ...all over an epic soundbed !!!
CWC side Monterrey from Mexico bowed out of the Liga MX Apertura 2021 competition last night as they lost on away goals to Atlas.
Bayern Munich are currently CWC holders with Chelsea strong favourites to win the 2021 edition though the English side will face stern competition from Palmeiras, Monterrey and Al-Ahly and Al-Hilal. Can't see Al-Jazira or Auckland being capable of mounting a serious challenge.
What we do know ahead of today's draw is the game that will open the competition next February will be Auckland City facing UAE based Al-Jazira who hail from Abu Dhabi.
Verdâo secure CWC berth
Brazil's Palmeiras became the 7th and final confirmed side to qualify for the 2021 FIFA CWC as former Getafe and Alaves striker Deyverson pounced in extra time to fire his side into a 2-1 lead following a mistake from Flamengo's Perreira and Verdâo claimed back to back Copa Libertatdores wins.
New Zealand's Auckland City (regular participants) at the Club World Cup have been nominated to play at the forthcoming competition via a FIFA invitation after the OFC Executive Committee confirmed their nomination of New Zealand’s Auckland City FC as the Confederation’s representative to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup 2021.
The 2021 OFC Champions League was cancelled due to the various COVID-19 restrictions across our Member Associations, meaning no matches were played.
As a result, OFC’s Executive Committee nominated a representative from the Confederation based strictly on sporting merit principles and will be the sides tenth participation at a Club World Cup competition.
CWC dates
The competition will run from 3 to 12 February 2022.
The 2021 competition was initially scheduled to take place in Japan but given the covid pandemic situation in the Asian nation, was moved to the Emirates with FIFA later confirming the dates of the tournament.
The seven sides in today's draw are: Chelsea FC as UEFA’s representatives following their UEFA Champions League win over Man City in Porto with Kai Havertz bagging the decisive goal.
The other sides include 2021 Copa Libertadores champions Palmeiras, AFC Champions League winners Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Al Jazira from host nations, the UAE. New Zealand’s Auckland City and Monterrey from Mexico will also compete.
The draw proceedings gets underway in Zurich at the FIFA HQ at 1700 (CET) / 1100 (ET) and is expected to last roughly 20-30 minutes.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the draw for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup that will be staged in the United Arab Emirates (and in early 2022).