Rangers need CELTIC favour in Club World Cup dream as no drastic rule change leaves improbable gauntlet options

Rangers were NEVER in line for Club World Cup 2025 qualification – but an improbable gauntlet can still provide them access amid no drastic rule change.

There still remains an outside chance CELTIC could help Rangers qualify for the game's latest competition. It was claimed over the summer that Rangers were going to qualify for the expanded 32 team FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 - and earn their share of £50m from the eye-watering $2 billion prize pot. Despite Rangers’ relatively high club coefficient - they are currently ranked ahead of clubs like Spurs, AC Milan, Lazio and PSV - they were never in line to qualify.

The new tournament, announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, will take place every 4 years starting in the USA in June 2025. There will be 32 teams competing from all over the world, including the likes of Neymar’s Al Hilal and recent Copa Libertadores winners Fluminese. Europe will be represented by 12 teams - the 4 Champions League winners from 2021-2024 (Chelsea, Real Madrid, Man City and this season’s winners) plus the next 8 highest ranked teams in the UEFA coefficient rankings from 2021-24.

It was claimed Rangers would be guaranteed entry was that the 8 UEFA places up for grabs would be capped at one team per country. However, FIFA stated on its website that the cap is and has always been, TWO teams per country.

The only exception is if a different English team wins this season’s UCL then they’d have three entrants by virtue of winning 3 of the last 4 Champions Leagues. That article hasn’t been updated since 14th March 2023 and so there has been no “drastic rule change” designed to exclude the likes of Rangers from the competition.

The only unconfirmed aspect is