How would failing to qualify for the Club World Cup affect Barcelona?

Barcelona’s economic prospects can hardly be described as rosy at the moment and things could be about to get worse. The Blaugranas could be dealt another blow that would be detrimental to both the club’s reputation on the world stage and their finances. Unless there is a spectacular turnaround of events, Barça are practically guaranteed to miss the revamped Club World Cup that will be played in the United States in 2025 - all because of the recent Champions League group stage defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atleti and Real Sociedad

The new Club World Cup will boast a potent format of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four, with the teams finishing in the top two positions advancing to the Last 16. The revamped tournament will feature 12 European clubs, with a maximum of two clubs per country. That’s where the problems start for Barça, who last won the Champions League in 2015 (all of the champions since 2021 qualify automatically, which means Real Madrid are guaranteed a place). Spain’s second berth will be contested by Barcelona and Atlético - unless Real Sociedad go on to win the current edition of the Champions League, in which case the Txuri-urdinak will join Madrid as the Spanish representatives.

In the current ranking for European clubs, based on results gained in UEFA competition, Atlético are on 62 points while Barcelona are seven behind on 55. The ranking methodology states that two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and one point per round as team progresses in the competition (four points are given for qualifying for the group stage and five for making the Round of 16).

How can Barcelona overtake Atlético?

So the four points that Barça effectively missed out on for losing the matchday 4 game against Shakhtar and the matchday 6 game against Antwerp proved very costly for Xavi’s team. Basically, now Barcelona need to rack up eight points more than Atlético in the remainder of the campaign (as they are seven behind). In practical terms, Barça will need to get two stages further than Simeone’s side - ie. if Atleti are eliminated in the Round of 16, Barça have to reach the semis - and not just advancing further, but winning all of their games too. Xavi’s men face Napoli in the next round.

It’s yet another headache - not only in terms of prestige, as Barcelona consider themselves part of Europe’s super elite clubs. Failing to qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup would also mean losing out on potential income. The eventual winner will scoop a cash prize of 100 million euros while all participating clubs will receive 50 million euros just for taking part. That’s a source of revenue that would come in very handy for Barcelona and one they will feel aggrieved to miss out on.