What will the 2025 Club World Cup look like with FIFA agreeing to expand the tournament to 32 teams with at least two Premier League clubs guaranteed to be included but Liverpool and Manchester United locked out

FIFA sensationally approved plans for the Club World Cup to be expanded to 32 teams from 2025 back in March.

The tournament was founded in 2000 and has traditionally been held during the season – lasting approximately a week – pitting the Champions League winners against teams that have won silverware in South American and the Middle East.

Only seven teams will participate in the 2023 edition in Saudi Arabia – including Manchester City.

The Premier League champions qualified for this year’s tournament after their Champions League triumph back in June. Pep Guardiola’s side have already secured their place for the 2025 edition – which is set to cause a real shake-up in the football world.

Mail Sport breaks down everything you need to know about the new FIFA Club World Cup format. 

Manchester City will compete in the new edition after their Champions League triumph this year 

What is the new edition?

As alluded to, FIFA has approved plans for the Club World Cup to be expanded to 32 teams from 2025.

Only seven teams were involved in the latest edition in January, but this is due to change in 2025, with the tournament moving to June, and 32 sides set to compete. 

Changes have been in the offing for the Club World Cup for some time, as FIFA planned to alter it to a 24-team competition in 2021, only for the Covid-19 pandemic to delay these plans.

They have now gone one step further and moved straight to a 32-team tournament, and speaking at a congress in Rwanda earlier this year, FIFA president Gianni Infantino declared that it will be ‘like a World Cup’.

FIFA’s decision is unlikely to go down well with a number of European clubs, after Mail Sport revealed in December that the continent’s elite clubs had rejected the organisation’s proposal to expand the tournament and move it to the summer. 

Chelsea will be in the 2025 Club World Cup after winning the Champions League in 2021

When will the tournament take place? 

The first edition of the tournament will take place from 15 June to 13 July 2025.

It is scheduled to be held in the United States – with host cities yet to be confirmed. 

FIFA confirmed that the dates have been set to ‘ensure that the scheduling of the tournament is harmoniously aligned with the International Match Calendar to allow sufficient time between the tournament final and the start of the season.’

What is the tournament format? 

There will be a group stage that will consist of eight groups of four teams – with each club playing in a single-game round-robin format. 

The top two teams from each group will progress through to the last-16 stage. 

There will be a direct single-match knockout stage from the last-16 stage to the final. Most notably, there will be no third-place play-off match. 

Real Madrid are guaranteed a spot in 2025 after winning the Champions League last year

Has anyone qualified already?

Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid have already booked their spots in the 2025 competition, after the Blues won the Champions League in 2021, while the Spanish giants beat Liverpool in the final last year.

Guardiola’s City qualified for the new format after they defeated Inter Milan in the Champions League final this year. 

A place in the tournament will also be reserved for the winners of Europe’s elite club competition in 2024.

Liverpool and Manchester United have missed out on a chance to compete in 2025. Europe will have 12 clubs in the tournament and the spaces are allocated based on performances in the Champions League over from 2020-21 up to, and including, this season. 

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have missed out on a chance to compete in the competition

Several big teams from Europe – including Bayern Munich – will participate 

The full list of teams who have qualified for the new format so far is as follows:

• Chelsea (England)
• Real Madrid (Spain)
• Manchester City (England)
• Bayern Munich (Germany)
• Paris Saint-Germain (France)
• Inter Milan (Italy)
• Porto (Portugal)
• Benfica (Portugal)
• Monterrey (Mexico)
• Seattle Sounders (USA)
• Club Leon (Mexico)
• Palmeiras (Brazil)
• Flamengo (Brazil)
• Fluminense (Brazil)
• Al Ahly (Egypt)
• Wydad (Morocco)
• Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
• Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
• Auckland City (New Zealand)