FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP
Which country will host the 32-team 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?
FIFA, world football’s governing body, has confirmed the host nation of the 2025 Club World Cup, the first edition of the tournament in an expanded format.
The FIFA Council has voted unanimously to name the United States as the host of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, when the tournament is to debut its expanded, 32-team format. The event will allow the US to test itself out ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which the country is to co-host with Canada and Mexico.
“The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football, and with the required infrastructure in place together with a massive local interest, the United States is the ideal host to kick off this new, global tournament,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.
How many Club World Cup spots will each region have?
The allocation of tournament spots by confederation was confirmed earlier in June. UEFA (Europe) will have 12 participants, with six places going to CONMEBOL (South America) and four each to the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa) and CONCACAF (Central America, North America and the Caribbean). One berth will be given to the OFC (Oceania), while the final spot will be occupied by a club from the Club World Cup’s host country.
Of the 12 European participants, three have already been confirmed. Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City have qualified as the last three winners of the Champions League.
Another matter discussed by the FIFA Council on Friday was the 2030 World Cup. “To ensure additional consultation with all key stakeholders, in relation to the FIFA World Cup 2030, which will mark the centenary of men’s football’s showpiece tournament, the FIFA Council agreed to postpone the formal launch of the bidding process,” the governing body said in a statement.
This means that we will have to wait longer than expected to find out who the candidates are for the event’s hosting rights. Spain is set to be one of the nations seeking to stage the 2030 World Cup, as part of a joint bid with Portugal and Morocco. The bidding process will be officially launched after the next FIFA Council meeting, which is scheduled for September or October 2023.
The FIFA Council also confirmed Indonesia as the host of the 2023 U-17 World Cup; Colombia as the host of the 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup; the Dominican Republic as the host of the 2024 U-17 Women’s World Cup; and Uzbekistan as the host of the 2024 Futsal World Cup.