Tag: FIFA Club World Cup

FIFA awards United States first expanded Club World Cup in 2025

Every major tournament seems to be on its way to the U.S.

FIFA has awarded the first ever expanded 32-team Club World Cup to the United States, with the tournament set to take place in 2025.

The governing body announced their decision on Friday, saying that the FIFA Council was unanimous in its vote.

“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 this new, global tournament,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a news release.

“With some of the world’s top clubs already qualified, fans from every continent will be bringing their passion and energy to the United States in two years’ time for this significant milestone in our mission to make football truly global.”

The U.S. is now set to host an incredible streak of major soccer events: the 2024 Copa America, the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 men’s World Cup are confirmed, along with the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Should FIFA select a joint USA-Mexico bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, that would mark five straight summers with a marquee event in the United States.

FIFA said that the 2025 Club World Cup will serve as something of a dry run for the 48-team World Cup the following summer.

Awarding the 2025 event to the U.S. “would allow FIFA to maximize 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,” the release said.

In December, Infantino announced that FIFA was moving forward with an expanded 32-team format for the Club World Cup, which has existed for several years with just seven teams participating.

Infantino said the tournament would be held in the summer and that the “best teams in the world” would be invited to participate.

There has been a backlash against the expanded tournament, however, with complaints about unnecessary competition with the UEFA Champions League, as well as adding more fixtures into an already crowded schedule.

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Seattle Sounders uncertain of Club World Cup allocation boost from MLS

The CONCACAF champions don’t know if MLS will give them any kind of a financial boost

The Seattle Sounders are not sure whether MLS will bolster their ability to spend after their CONCACAF Champions League victory gained them a spot in the next FIFA Club World Cup.

MLS has for years hoped a team would break through and win the Champions League, and after a decade of heartbreak got their wish as the Sounders knocked off Liga MX’s Pumas 5-2 on aggregate last week. That means that Seattle will do something no MLS club has ever had to do: play in the next Club World Cup, potentially setting up a competitive match against a giant club from Europe or South America.

Historically, the league has given Champions League qualifiers an extra pile of allocation money to bolster their squad for the higher-level competition. The Club World Cup is the next step up the ladder, but according to Jeremiah Oshan at Sounder at Heart, the Sounders currently don’t know whether MLS will follow that precedent.

The issues are twofold here. MLS has never had a team get into this situation, so they haven’t had to pass any internal rules on the topic before. The adjustments the league has made for its Champions League qualifiers include extra allocation funds, an earlier preseason start date, and a willingness to reschedule league games so its top teams don’t have to prioritize continental play over MLS matches.

Secondly, it’s not even clear when FIFA will hold the Club World Cup, or what the structure will be. Plans to hold the 2021 edition in China included an expanded 24-team field, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced a postponement. FIFA has not announced plans on when the next Club World Cup will be held, much less whether the changed tournament format will be maintained, altered, or scrapped entirely.