The draw for the final phase of the FIFA Club World Cup will take place this Thursday, December 5 at 19:00 hours (CET) in Miami and will be broadcast live worldwide. The draw, like the rest of the matches in the competition, will be exclusively broadcast on DAZN. The event will be held from June 15 to July 13, 2025, in the USA. The opening match will be played in Miami and the final in New York-New Jersey.

In the new format of the competition, there will be a group stage, consisting of 8 groups of 4 teams each, with each team playing three matches and the top two from each group qualifying for the next phase. Subsequently, there will be a knockout stage divided into: round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final. The champion will have to play a total of seven matches to lift the title and there will be no third-place match.

THE 4 POTS OF THE DRAW

Pot 1: Manchester City (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Flamengo (Brazil), Palmeiras (Brazil), River Plate (Argentina), Fluminense (Brazil)

Pot 2: Chelsea (England), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Inter Milan (Italy), Porto (Portugal), Atlético de Madrid (Spain), Benfica (Portugal), Juventus (Italy), Salzburg (Austria)

Pot 3: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea), Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Monterrey (Mexico), León (Mexico), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Botafogo (Brazil)

Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Al Ain (United Arab Emirates), Espérance de Tunis (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Pachuca (Mexico), Seattle Sounders (United States), Auckland City (New Zealand), Inter Miami (United States)

The 32 Qualified Teams

The new Club World Cup already knows the final list of the 32 participating teams. Botafogo, champion of the Copa Libertadores, has been the last to secure a ticket for the event. The pots will be defined by geographical criteria and the ranking of each confederation (UEFA, CONMEBOL, AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, and OFC) as much as possible.

Teams Qualified as Continental Champions

  • Chelsea (England)
  • Real Madrid (Spain)
  • Manchester City (England)
  • Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
  • Urawa (Japan)
  • Al Ain (United Arab Emirates)
  • Al Ahly (Egypt)
  • Wydad (Morocco)
  • Club León (Mexico)
  • Rayados (Mexico)
  • Pachuca (Mexico)
  • Seattle Sounders (USA)
  • Palmeiras (Brazil)
  • Fluminense (Brazil)
  • Flamengo (Brazil)
  • Botafogo (Brazil)

These are the clubs that won the top club competition of each confederation between 2021 and 2024. In the case of the UEFA Champions League, it refers to the winners between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 seasons.

Teams Qualified via Ranking

  • Bayern (Germany)
  • PSG (France)
  • Inter (Italy)
  • Porto (Portugal)
  • Benfica (Portugal)
  • Dortmund (Germany)
  • Juventus (Italy)
  • Atlético (Spain)
  • Salzburg (Austria)
  • Ulsan (South Korea)
  • Esperance (Tunisia)
  • Mamelodi (South Africa)
  • River Plate (Argentina)
  • Boca Juniors (Argentina)
  • Auckland City (New Zealand)

Below are the teams that have mathematically qualified through the confederation's club ranking during the same four-year period (2021-2024).

Team Qualified as Host

  • Inter Miami (USA)

The Venues and Stadiums of the 2025 Club World Cup

The venues chosen by FIFA are: Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, and the twelve selected stadiums are:

  • New Jersey: MetLife Stadium and Red Bull Arena
  • Miami:  Hard Rock Stadium
  • Atlanta: Mercedes Benz Stadium
  • Seattle: Lumen Field
  • Orlando: Camping World Stadium and Inter&Co
  • Charlotte: Bank of America Stadium
  • Cincinnati: TQL Stadium
  • Washington DC: Audi Field
  • Nashville: GEODIS Park
  • Philadelphia: Lincoln Financial Field

A CONTROVERSIAL CLUB WORLD CUP WITH GREAT ABSENCES

The limit of teams per country is only two, and the only exception is having indistinct continental champions in the years leading up to the World Cup, something that has occurred with the Brazilians (Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Botafogo) and with the Mexicans (León, Rayados, and Pachuca).

The limitation by countries has caused the first edition of the new Club World Cup to not include many of the best teams in the world, distorting a competition whose final format is far from resembling a real World Cup.

TEAMS NOT QUALIFIED FOR THE 2025 CLUB WORLD CUP

  • Liverpool (England)
  • Roma (Italy)
  • Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
  • Leipzig (Germany)
  • Manchester United (England)
  • West Ham (England)
  • FC Barcelona (Spain)
  • Arsenal (England)
  • Atalanta (Italy)
  • Nacional (Uruguay)
  • Milan (Italy)
  • Tottenham (England)