FIFA Club World Cup returns after one-year hiatus with new format
32 clubs go head-to-head across 11 cities for $1 billion USD prize pool
Zafir Nagji, Sports Editor |
Nothing brings football fans together like Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) tournaments, and while they’re waiting for the next FIFA World Cup in 2026, they can tune in to this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup. Hosted across 11 cities in the United States of America, 32 of the world’s best football clubs will be competing for their share of the largest prize pool in the tournament’s history, valued at $1 billion USD. The tournament takes place from June 14 to July 13 under a new format and is set to gross a whopping $2 billion USD in revenue, according to FIFA’s 2024 financial report.
FIFA’s back, alright!
The last FIFA Club World Cup took place in 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and saw English football club Manchester City win their first Club World Cup title. Led by Golden Ball winner and superstar Spanish defensive midfielder Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, better known as Rodri, Manchester City did not concede a single goal for the entire tournament, beating Japanese football club Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in the semi-finals before dominating Brazilian football club Fluminense FC 4-0 in the final.
At the time, the tournament’s regulations were vastly different and only included a total of seven clubs. Those clubs included the winners of six continental competitions and the winners from the host country’s highest professional league – in this case, Al-Ittihad, the winners of the Saudi Pro League. Seven matches were played and the prize pool totalled $16 million USD, including a $5 million USD prize for the winning club.
The 2023 tournament marked the final year under the old format, with the new format being confirmed at the March 2019 FIFA Council meeting in Miami and planned for June and July 2021. China was initially appointed host, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed the United States of America as the host country and marked 2025 as the year it would take place, acting as a precursor to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
New format, who’s this?
The new format expanded the tournament from seven clubs to 32, separated into eight groups of four clubs each, with the top two clubs advancing to the knockout stage – a very similar format to the one used during FIFA’s World Cup tournaments from 1998-2022. The expansion includes the winners of the top club competitions from each of 2021 through 2024 for five confederations, the highest-ranked team across 2021 to 2024 from the Oceania confederation and additional teams based on their club ranking over the four years.
Sounds complicated, right? Here’s the breakdown as announced by the FIFA Council on Feb. 14, 2023:
- Twelve clubs from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), including the winners of each UEFA Champions League from 2021 through 2024 and nine of the highest-ranked eligible clubs in UEFA’s four-year ranking
- Six clubs from the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), including the winners of each Copa Libertadores from 2021 through 2024 and the two best-ranked eligible teams in CONMEBOL’s four-year ranking
- Four clubs from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), including the winners of each CONCACAF Champions League from 2021 through 2022, the CONCACAF Champions Cup winner in 2024 and Los Angeles FC, who beat Mexican football club Club América 2-1 in a playoff match after 2023 CONCACAF Champions League winner Club León was removed from the tournament by the FIFA Appeal Committee on March 21, 2025 as it shares the same owner as C.F. Pachuca, a violation of the rules on multi-club ownership.
- Four clubs from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), including the winners of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 CAF Champions League and the two best-ranked eligible teams in CAF’s four-year ranking.
- Four clubs from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), including the winners of the 2021, 2022 and 2023-24 AFC Champions League, as well as the best-ranked eligible team in AFC’s four-year ranking.
- The winning club from the host country’s highest professional league – in this case, Inter Miami CF, who won the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) Supporters’ Shield and all-time legend Lionel Messi’s current football club.
In addition to expanding the pool of competitors, FIFA confirmed a much more lucrative prize fund totalling $1 billion USD, over 60 times as much as the $16 million prize fund in 2023. However, not all of that money goes to the winning team, as $250 million USD in what FIFA call “Solidarity Payments” will be provided to club football across the world.
“There is an unprecedented solidarity investment programme where we have a target of an additional $250 million being provided to club football across the world. This solidarity will undoubtedly provide a significant boost in our ongoing efforts in making football truly global,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Not only that, but FIFA will neither retain any funding for this tournament, as all revenues will be distributed to club football, nor will it touch FIFA’s reserves, which are set aside for global football development through the 211 FIFA Member Associations.”
$525 million USD will be split across all participating teams and is fully guaranteed for every club, while the remaining $475 million USD will be awarded based on results, delegated as follows:
- Group stage (three matches): $2 million USD per win, $1 million USD per draw
- Round of 16: $7.5 million USD
- Quarter-final: $13.125 million USD
- Semi-final: $21 million USD
- Finalist: $30 million USD
- Winner: $40 million USD
Who and where to watch
It’s impossible to ignore Messi and Inter Miami CF in this tournament from a viewing entertainment perspective. Nobody knows how long the Argentinian forward will continue to compete in international tournaments, let alone play professional soccer at any level, so any chance to watch Messi play must be taken advantage of. Having played professionally since 2004 and being one of the sport’s most decorated players ever, the 37-year-old has yet to announce if he will be competing at next year’s FIFA World Cup. Capitalise on this opportunity to watch the football icon compete in what could potentially be his final appearance in international competition.
Additionally, the UEFA clubs, especially Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and Atlético Madrid, are set to deliver robotically perfect football as European clubs continue to acquire the most expensive and talented players on the planet, like Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.
Lastly, CONMEBOL clubs, especially Flamengo, Fluminense, and River Plate, are more than plucky underdogs as they are competing for the top spot in their respective group tables and, in some cases, even beating their European counterparts.
To watch the billion-dollar tournament, Canadian football fans can subscribe to DAZN, which acquired the global broadcasting rights to the tournament from FIFA for €1 billion, and watch all 63 tournament matches on the platform.
For more information on the tournament and data from all matches, visit the official FIFA Club World Cup 2025 website. Mobile users can also download the FIFA Official App.
