FIFA Club World Cup: Format, draw, teams, schedule, and why Messi is playing

The inaugural draw for the new-look FIFA Club World Cup takes place on Thursday, Dec. 5 in Miami at 1 p.m. ET. It’s a competition that will look a whole lot different to what we’ve been used to and FIFA has managed to ensure Lionel Messi will be front and centre.

The previous incarnation of the Club World Cup saw seven teams from the six FIFA confederations play seven matches across 11 days at one central host.

Now 32 teams will descend on the United States to battle it out for the title of the world’s greatest club team of the last four seasons, cramming 63 fixtures into 28 days.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new-look competition.

What is the format of the Club World Cup?

It mirrors the old format of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League. With the 32 clubs drawn into eight groups of four, they play each other once and filter into a knockout tournament.

The group winners and runners-up go through and then it’s a straight knockout competition — round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final — with extra time and penalties determining who progresses should a game end in a draw.

What are the dates for the Club World Cup?

The opening match will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday, June 15.

The final is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, July 13.

FIFA has not yet announced any further details of the schedule.

When is the draw for the group stage?

It takes place on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. UK in Miami.

How is the draw going to work?

FIFA has not yet released details of the draw pots or any specific regulations.

What does the trophy look like?

FIFA says the new trophy is “a celebration of hope, excellence and pride, embodying the journey of every club, player and fan.”

It adds: “Boasting a 24-carat gold-plated finish, the FIFA Club World Cup Trophy features intricate laser-engraved inscriptions on both sides, showcasing text and imagery that portray football’s rich history. The inscriptions include a world map and the names of all 211 FIFA Member Associations and the six confederations, representing the geographical and cultural diversity of the beautiful game.

“The trophy’s central disc displays an array of icons that capture football’s traditions, including symbols of stadiums and equipment and a world map.

“The trophy also features engravings in 13 languages and Braille, further highlighting the inclusive spirit of the global game and ensuring that the tournament’s legacy is accessible to diverse audiences around the world. Space is available to laser-engrave the emblems of the winning clubs for 24 editions of the tournament. Furthermore, the trophy can transform from a shield into a multifaceted and orbital structure — an adaptable design that establishes a powerful visual structure.”

Engraved on the trophy is a message which reads: “To those who hold this trophy, history belongs to you! You are witness to a moment in time that represents the pinnacle of club football, bestowed upon few but celebrated by many.”

Is the new Club World Cup being played every summer?

It is intended to be held every four years as a test event for the FIFA World Cup, hence why the 2025 edition is taking place in the United States, ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

How did teams get to play in the new Club World Cup?

There were two ways to qualify:

1) By winning a continental title (e.g. UEFA Champions League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, etc) in one of the four most-recent seasons. If a club wins the title more than once in this period (such as Real Madrid), the slot(s) is passed to a team who qualifies from 2).

2) By having a high ranking of performance in the top-level continental tournament over the four-year period.

Each confederation has been given a set number of places based upon its strength. As such, UEFA has 12 slots, and CONMEBOL six. There’s four each for Concacaf, Asia and Africa, plus one for Oceania.

Who has qualified for this edition of the Club World Cup?

Each country was allowed a maximum of two participants, with one caveat. All continental champions have a right to play at the Club World Cup, and Brazilian clubs are so dominant in South American football they they have won all four qualifying editions of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (it’s actually the last six back to 2020), each with a different club. So, Brazil gets four teams in the competition, rather than two.

Once the standard two-per-country limit was hit, another club from that nation couldn’t qualify by the ranking route — and this has ruled out six teams: Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and AC Milan.

For instance, as Chelsea and Manchester City claimed a slot by winning the Champions League in recent seasons, Liverpool — ranked eighth — were bypassed to fill up the UEFA allocation. Benfica (ranked 13th), Juventus (14th) and RB Salzburg (18th) benefitted when, over the four years, other clubs have performed better.

Barcelona miss out because their results in the Champions League have been slightly worse than than of Atlético Madrid, who take a ranking place.

Here are the 31 teams who won their place in the 2025 on merit.

Hang on, what about Inter Miami and Lionel Messi?

The 32nd place at the Club World Cup is reserved for a representative of the host nation, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Oct. 18 that Inter Miami CF had been invited. It means that, barring injury, FIFA will get to have Messi, arguably the game’s greatest-ever player, in the first edition of the competition.

This is controversial because Inter Miami are not MLS champions. They won the Supporters’ Shield, handed to the team with the best regular-season record, and broke the MLS record for most points (74) in a single season in the process. But it’s the winners of the MLS Cup, the end-of-season playoff tournament among the 18 best-performing teams from the Conference league season, who are recognised as the overall champions. Inter Miami failed to make it past the first round, as they were knocked out by Atlanta United.

When LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls meet in the MLS Cup final on Saturday they will not also be playing for the right to represent the U.S. at the Club World Cup.

So Inter Miami and Messi will be at the Club World Cup. Not only that, it seems highly likely he’ll play in the first-ever match at Miami’s home on June 15. Maybe he’ll get to take the kickoff too?

Hmm, so what’s this competition Real Madrid are playing in this month?

The new Club World Cup is effectively a “best of” tournament. It’s just taken on the name of the old tournament. But guess what … the annual December competition still exists but it’s now called the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

Yes, that’s right, even though we’ve got the summer tournament there will still be the annual “world champion” crowned this month.

However, rather than matches being held over the course of a week and hosted by one nation, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup takes place throughout the first half of the season. The first and second round ties have home advantage, before the final three matches take place in Qatar.

First round
Al Ain won 6-2 at home to Auckland City on Sept. 22.

Second round
Al Ain then lost 3-0 to Al Ahly in Cairo in the second round on Oct. 29.
CONMEBOL Libertadores winner Botafogo play Liga MX side Pachuca in Doha on Dec. 11.

Semifinal (Challenger Cup)
Al Ahly play the winners of Botafogo vs. Pachuca in Doha on Dec. 14.

Final
Real Madrid are automatically in the final, which is to be played in Lusail on Dec. 18.

Will the Club World Cup be competitive?

That’s the big question, and there’s the danger of some heavily one-sided fixtures in the group stage.

Historically, the old Club World Cup was completely dominated by clubs from Europe (16 titles) and South America (4) across its 20 editions.

Of the 40 teams to play in the final, only six — DR Congo’s TP Mazembe (2010), Raja Casablanca of Morocco (2013), Japan’s Kashima Antlers (2016), Al-Ain of United Arab Emirates (2018), UANL of Mexico (2020), and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia (2022) — got into the position, but failed to break the duopoly.

So, as every group will have at least two teams from Europe and/or South America, there’s a clear possibility we could see some lopsided-sided groups.

What are the host cities?

All we know so far is:
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami will host the opening match on Sunday, June 15
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will be the home of the final on July 13.
Seattle Sounders will play all three of their matches at their Lumen Field home ground.

Those three venues will be joined by:
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)
TQL Stadium (Cincinnati)
Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles)
GEODIS Park (Nashville, Tennessee)
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando)
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).

What is the full fixtures schedule?

Apart from the venue for the opening game and the final, and Seattle’s home games, we don’t know anything at all.

Inter Miami will surely play in the first game, as it’s at their stadium. Other than that, we have to wait for FIFA to publish the schedule after the draw.

What about fears around player burnout?

It’s a real concern for players, and has led to legal action from the players’ unions.

Maheta Molango, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) in England, told ESPN that leading players including Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden “need to be protected” from the risk of burnout and excessive workload shortening their careers, adding there will be a “price to pay” if football’s schedule continues to intensify.

FIFPRO, the world players’ union, and the PFA are awaiting the outcome of a legal case against FIFA over workload.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri suggested players are “close” to going on strike just days before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

So how packed is the schedule? For the elite European players it’s relentless.

Let’s take a look at how it could pan out for players of Manchester City or Real Madrid:

Their domestic seasons finish on May 25.

If either, or both, get to the Champions League final, that’s played on May 31.

Players will then jet off around the globe to play two crucial World Cup qualifiers, or UEFA Nations League fixtures, on the international window of June 2-10. Just five days later, the Club World Cup begins on June 15.

If Man City got to the final of the Club World Cup on July 13, they would have a rest of 34 days before the Premier League kicks off on the weekend of Aug. 16. There’s no start date for the next LaLiga season just yet.