USA to host 32-team FIFA Club World Cup in 2025

FIFA have announced than an expanded 32-team FIFA Club World Cup will be played in the USA in 2025.

The tournament will see 12 teams from Europe, six from South America, four from each of the CONCACAF (North and Central America), CAF (Africa) and AFC (Asia) regions and one team from OFC (Oceania), as well as one team to be selected from the USA to compete.

FIFA will scrap the current FIFA Club World Cup format after the 2023 edition in Saudi Arabia and this new format for the Club World Cup will see it played once every four years.

However, there will still be an annual FIFA tournament as world soccer’s governing body says that will “bring together the winners of each confederation’s premier club competition and will conclude with a final held at a neutral venue between the winner of the UEFA Champions League and the winner of intercontinental play-offs between the clubs representing the other confederations.”

The host selection process took into consideration the infrastructure and service requirements, as well as broader strategic objectives for the tournament. The decision was reached based on the United States’ position as a proven leader in staging global events and because it would allow FIFA to maximise synergies with the delivery of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, to the benefit of both tournaments and the development of football in the North American region. As a next step, FIFA will engage with the relevant stakeholders to finalise the dates, venues and match schedule of this new tournament.

“The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football, and with the required infrastructure in place together with a massive local interest, the United States is the ideal host to kick off