19 Teams Confirmed for 2025 Club World Cup, June 15-July 13

FIFA has officially announced that the 2025 Club World Cup will be held in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025, and 19 teams have been confirmed, with Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern, and Inter among them. There will also be a new tournament, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, which will be held annually from 2024 onwards, with the final featuring the UEFA Champions League winner against the winner of the other continental championships decided through a play-off.

The FIFA Council met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ahead of the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup and made key decisions relating to the first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States in 2025, officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup, and featuring clubs from six continents. Clubs from six continents will participate.
The FIFA Council unanimously confirmed that the club ranking methodology would be part of the key principles for access, which were approved at the March 2023 Council meeting.
In order to ensure a competitive standard-based approach over the last four seasons, starting with the group stage of the relevant top club tournament in each continental federation and rewarding points for each result in the relevant tournament, the following new standard ranking methodology was approved:
3 points for a win
1 point for a draw
3 points for advancing to each stage of the tournament
As far as European clubs are concerned, given that three full seasons of the UEFA Champions League and the complete group stage of the fourth season have been completed and due to UEFA’s existing club points system, the principles of the existing methodology, which is currently only used to calculate UEFA club points in relation to UEFA Champions League matches, will be used exceptionally for determining the rankings of European clubs for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
The approved methodology for ranking European teams is therefore as follows:
2 points for a win
1 point for a draw
4 points for advancing to the group stage
5 points for advancing to the round of 16
1 point for advancing to subsequent stages of the tournament
Based on the approved admission principles and the results of the club competitions in each continent, the following clubs have confirmed their eligibility:
Africa (4 teams)
Qualified through the championship route (African Champions League) (3 teams)
1 Seasons 2020-21 and 2022: Cairo National (Egypt)
2 Season 2021-22: Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
3 2023-24 Season: To be determined
Qualification through the ranking route (1 team)
4 To be determined
Asia (4 teams)
Qualification through the championship route (AFC Champions League) (3 teams)
1 Season 2021: Riyadh Crescent (Saudi Arabia)
2 2022 Season: Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
3 2023 Season: Pending
Qualification through the Ranking Pathway (1 team)
4 To be determined
Europe (12 teams)
Qualification via the Champions League (4 teams)
1 2020-21: Chelsea (England)
2 2021-22: Real Madrid (Spain)
3 2022-23: Manchester City (England)
4 2023-24 Season: Pending
Qualification through the ranking route (8 teams)
5 Bayern Munich (Germany)
6 Paris Saint-Germain (France)
7 Inter Milan (Italy)
8 Porto (Portugal)
9 Benfica (Portugal)
10 Pending
11 Pending
12 Pending

Of the four remaining seats in Europe, Arsenal, Copenhagen, Real Sociedad and PSV Eindhoven can only qualify by winning the 2023-24 Champions League.
While Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Leipzig, Barcelona, Juventus, Napoli, Red Bull Salzburg, and Lazio are still expected to qualify through either the ranking route or the championship route.

North and Central America Caribbean (4 teams)
Qualification through the championship pathway (CONCACAF Champions Cup)
1 Season 2021: Monterrey (Mexico)
2 2022 Season: Seattle Sounders (USA)
3 2023 Season: Leon (Mexico)
4 2024 Season: Pending
Oceania (1 team)
Qualification through the Rankings Pathway
1 Auckland City (New Zealand)
Although the 2024 Oceania Club Champions League has yet to kick off, there is no theoretical possibility for any of the potential teams to overtake Auckland City based on the number of points they have gained in qualifying so far.
South America (6 teams)
Qualification through the championship route (Copa Libertadores) (4 teams)
1 Season 2021: Palmeiras (Brazil)
2 2022 Season: Flamengo (Brazil)
3 2023 Season: Fluminense (Brazil)
4 Season 2024: Pending
Qualification through the ranking route (2 teams)
5 Pending
6 Pending

The final place will be allocated to the host club and further details will be provided in due course.
Tournament Dates
The first edition of the tournament will take place from June 15 to July 13, 2025. These dates have been set to ensure that the tournament schedule is harmonized with the international playing calendar to allow sufficient time between the final of the tournament and the start of the new season in many domestic leagues across the globe, taking into account that a minimum of three days’ rest should be guaranteed between matches to safeguard the welfare of the players.
tournament format
The group stage consists of 8 groups of 4 teams each, with a single round robin system.
The top two teams from each group advance to the Round of 16
Direct single elimination matches from the round of 16 to the finals
No third-place playoffs
The tournament will therefore follow the same format as the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but without a third-place playoff.
The FIFA Intercontinental Cup will be held annually starting in 2024
The FIFA Council approved in March 2023 the organization of an annual FIFA club tournament from 2024 onwards, featuring the winners of the top club competitions of all continental football confederations, culminating in a final match at a neutral venue between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the winners of the intercontinental play-offs of clubs from other continents.
In order to strengthen the intercontinental sporting rivalry and to create a prestigious annual championship title for all stages of the competition, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup will consist of the following stages:
Stage A: This stage of the competition will be played in two rounds. In the first round, the AFC Champions League winner or the African Champions League winner will take it in turns to face the Oceania Champions League winner on their home turf. The winner of this round will face the AFC Champions League winner or the African Champions League winner in the final. For the inaugural edition of the tournament, a draw will be made to determine the AFC team or CAF team to participate in the first round of the competition, with the hosting rights for the first round and the final to be split equally between the relevant AFC team and CAF team, so that each team will play a match on its home ground. Thereafter, the hosting rights for the first and final rounds will alternate annually.
Stage B: The winner of the CONCACAF Champions Cup will play the winner of the CONCACAF Copa Libertadores in a single-leg match at the home of one of the clubs, with the host of the inaugural tournament to be decided by a draw, and hosting to rotate annually thereafter.
Play-off: The winners of the first two stages will play each other at the same neutral venue of the final a few days before the final.
Final: The winners of the play-offs will play the Champions League winners at a neutral venue, with the winner being crowned that year’s champion.

The dates for the inaugural tournament in 2024 have been confirmed below:
The first stage will be scheduled by FIFA in consultation with the clubs and continental federations.
The play-offs will be held on December 14, 2024 at neutral venues
The final will be held on December 18, 2024 at the same neutral venue