What you need to know ahead of FIFA's revamped Club World Cup draw

Soccer's biggest ever global club tournament is coming to the United States next year and the 32-team group stage will be drawn Thursday.

European powers Real Madrid and Manchester City, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, recently crowned South American champion Botafogo and top clubs from Asia, Africa and Oceania are among the teams who are in the draw for FIFA's revamped Club World Cup.

The tournament, which used to be played annually in December, will take place in 11 U.S. cities from June 15 to July 13 in an expanded format with 32 teams instead of the previous seven. Going forward the Club World Cup will be played every four years — just like the World Cup for national teams, which will be co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2026.

Here's what to know about the Club World Cup draw, which is made in Miami at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Thursday.

FIFA and its presidents have long coveted a prime piece of club soccer content.

The 2025 Club World Cup is FIFA's most ambitious project, creating a month-long tournament in a mid-June to mid-July slot historically used by the men's World Cup, which draws the biggest audiences in global sports.

The new club competition uses the traditional 32-team format used by the World Cup from 1998 to 2022. Eight round-robin groups of four teams each, and the top two advance to a knockout bracket of 16.

In allocating 32 entries, FIFA tried to balance getting the best and most watchable teams with giving all the world a chance to compete and develop.

Europe got 12 places, South America six, while Africa, Asia and North America got four each. One place went to Oceania and one to the host nation that should change for each edition.

Teams qualified by winning their continental championship from 2021