Manchester United and Man City Club World Cup qualification explained as Real Madrid make u-turn

The FIFA Club World Cup is set for a significant expansion next year, with 32 teams participating in a grand new competition. The inaugural edition of FIFA's premier club tournament will be hosted in the USA.

The tournament will unite clubs from each of the six international confederations - AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA. Previously, it only involved seven teams - one from each confederation, plus an additional team from the host confederation.

However, FIFA has announced a major enlargement to the tournament for next year, with 32 teams competing in a pre-season tournament scheduled for June and July, including Manchester City.

But what are the qualification criteria, and could Manchester United join them? MEN Sport takes a look at what it all means...

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UEFA will send 12 representatives to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. These 12 will include the winners of the past four Champions League finals - Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea - as well as the highest-ranked teams from the past four years.

As Real Madrid has clinched the title twice in the last four seasons, another club will qualify through the rankings system.

This is also based on the last four seasons in the Champions League. Teams accumulate points based on their performances in each of the past four editions of the competition.

Points are allocated as follows:

Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and RB Salzburg have all secured their places in the 2025 tournament, based on