The FIFA Club World Cup, featuring Premier League teams Manchester City and Chelsea, kicks off this weekend.
In this post we will analyze the new tournament with 32 teams.
Warp
The Club World Cup is not a new idea, but it is the first to be played in a format more akin to an international competition. Previously a short-lived annual event involving the champions from each continent, the competition has now grown considerably. It will be held every four years and will follow the format used at the traditional World Cup from 1998 to 2022 (without the third-place play-off). The tournament consists of eight groups of four teams, with the top two advancing to the last 16. The first game will be played on 14 June (early morning of 15 June, Irish time), with the final on 13 July.
The owners
The tournament will be held in the United States — one of the host countries for next year's World Cup — with venues primarily located on the East Coast, including New York City, where the semifinals and final will be held, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. Seattle and Los Angeles are the only two venues on the West Coast.
Teams
The tournament features 12 European qualifying teams and six from South America, four each from Africa, Asia and North America/Caribbean, and one from Oceania. An additional team from the host nation (Inter Miami) completes the 32-team field. In Europe, the 2021–24 Champions League winners have been automatically included – Chelsea (2021), Real Madrid (2022 and 2024) and Manchester City (2023). Paris Saint-Germain’s recent success counts towards 2029 qualification, however they claimed their slot based on ranking points, along with Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. There is a limit of two teams per country, which has resulted in clubs such as Liverpool, Barcelona, Napoli and Milan not being included despite ranking higher than other teams. For Brazil, the limit was
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
