US picked to host 2025 Club World Cup, an expanded soccer tournament with 32 teams

GENEVA: The United States will host the Club World Cup in 2025, the first time the FIFA tournament will have 32 teams. Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea already earned places as recent Champions League winners for the expanded tournament lineup that is set to test stadiums and operations one year before the 2026 World Cup. The United States will host the men's World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and FIFA could yet give some Club World Cup games to those countries.

The Club World Cup will take place in June-July 2025. The United States was chosen as host Friday during an online meeting of the FIFA Council. FIFA praised “the United States’ position as a proven leader in staging global events and because it would allow FIFA to maximize synergies with the delivery” of the 2026 tournament.

The Seattle Sounders also are in the lineup for the Club World Cup as the 2022 champion of North American soccer region CONCACAF. The Americans should get another entry as the host nation. Storied European teams have visited the United States for preseason friendly games for years but the expanded club tournament will give fans a rare chance to see 12 of them play competitive games.

FIFA said in March the basic qualification path for clubs was to win a continental championship in any of the four years from 2021 to 2024 in the five main confederations: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Europe with 12 teams and South America with six are the only continents with more than four entries. Extra places should be awarded according to team rankings by results a four-year span in continental competitions.