It can always be a little heartbreaking when the football season comes to an end. What do we watch now? But while we may be missing our trips to the County Ground or tuning into Tuesday night European action, there’s actually still another month to go in the form of the refreshed and revitalised Club World Cup.
For UK football fans, the competition has never really managed to get it right, but with an expanded, 32-team competition, there’s a little more excitement this time around.
Recently, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said of the tournament: “We have more countries represented in the (FIFA) Club World Cup, the first edition of the (FIFA) Club World Cup, than in 100 years of (the FIFA) World Cup. Because these clubs today – the top clubs in the world – they are multinationals. They have good players from every country in the world.”
It certainly could be groundbreaking, so if you’re missing your football fix already, here’s all you need to know about the Club FIFA World Cup 2025…
When and where does the FIFA Club World Cup take place?
The competition this year will be a bit of a precursor to the FIFA World Cup in 2026, with the USA playing host to the competition.
12 venues across the country will host games in 11 different host cities.
These are:
- Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
- MetLife Stadium, Rutherford, NJ
- Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
- Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
- Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
- Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
- Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
- Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, FL
- Geodis Park, Nashville, TN
- TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
- Audi Field, Washington D.C.
The Club World Cup gets underway on June 14, with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami kicking things off against Egyptian outfit Al Ahly.
The competition’s Group Stage runs until June 26, with the top two teams from each group progressing. The knockout phases then begin on June 28, with the Final taking place on July 13 at the MetLife Stadium, just outside New York City.
The FIFA Club World Cup Schedule:
- Group Phase: June 14-26
- Round of 16: June 28-July 1
- Quarter Finals: July 4-5
- Semi Finals: July 8-9
- Final: July 13
Teams to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025
Where people might buy into the tournament a little more this year is through the Club World Cup fixtures that are taking place. There are some big clubs from around the world taking part as well as some huge match-ups in the Group Stage.
The breakdown of groups is as follows:
Group A:
- Palmeiras, Brazil
- Porto, Portugal
- Al Ahly, Egypt
- Inter Miami, USA
Group B:
- Paris Saint-Germain, France
- Atletico Madrid, Spain
- Botafogo, Brazil
- Seattle Sounders, USA
Group C:
- Bayern Munich, Germany
- Auckland City, New Zealand
- Boca Juniors, Argentina
- Benfica, Portugal
Group D:
- Flamengo, Brazil
- Esperance de Tunis, Tunisia
- Chelsea, England
- Play-in winner (either Los Angeles FC or America, to be determined May 31)
Group E:
- River Plate, Argentina
- Urawa Red Diamonds, Japan
- Monterrey, Mexico
- Inter Milan, Italy
Group F:
- Fluminense, Brazil
- Borussia Dortmund, Germany
- Ulsan HD, South Korea
- Mamelodi Sundowns, South Africa
Group G:
- Manchester City, England
- Wydad AC, Morocco
- Al Ain, UAE
- Juventus, Italy
Group H:
- Real Madrid, Spain
- Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia
- Pachuca, Mexico
- Red Bull Salzburg, Austria
The Club World Cup 2025 fixtures to look out for
There are some strong teams in each group and even the Group Stage is throwing up some pretty scintillating ties that you won’t want to miss.
Among the ones to watch will be:
- June 15: PSG v Atletico Madrid
- June 20: Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors
- June 21: River Plate v Inter Milan
- June 26: Juventus v Manchester City
Which teams are favourites to win the FIFA Club World Cup?
The bookmakers and pundits are already having their say on who they think will win the competition, and it’s perhaps no surprise to see the European teams dominating.
However, it’s not been a great season for the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Juventus, with PSG perhaps being the standout team, particularly in the Champions League this season.
Manchester City and Real Madrid are currently joint favourites, although it will be worth delving deeper into the tips and analysis as we get closer as there will be twists and turns. MightyTips’ analytically-proven approaches is always worth a look, and they’ll no doubt dive further into the way teams play and whether there’s a chance any teams outside Europe could cause an upset.
According to the oddsmakers, Flamengo are the most likely to do that, with them priced around 25/1 with most, alongside Palmeiras.
Favoured teams outside the two giants already mentioned include Bayern Munich (priced around 6/1) and PSG at 8/1. Inter Milan, who also have a Champions League Final to contend with first, are at 10/1 alongside Chelsea, the only other English team in the competition.
It’s going to be a big month or so in the history of Inter Milan and they could really upset the odds, making a statement for Italian football in the process. Lautaro Martinez, Inter’s star striker stated that his side “will give everything”.
He added: “Because it will be the first time that this competition is played with this format. So I’m excited, and very curious to see how it all ends up.”
The FIFA Club World Cup players to look out for
What’s going to be really interesting about this tournament is that it’ll very much be a changing of the guard.
While most fans will be looking forward to seeing Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez reunited for Inter Miami, players such as Endrick, Jamie Gittens and Nico O’Reilly have the chance to establish themselves on the global stage.
What’s more, it’s a chance for players outside of European Leagues to really break through too. Names to keep an eye on include Palmeiras attacker Estevao and 17-year-old River Plate starlet Franco Mastantuono, who is being seen as Argentina’s next big hope and a prime Manchester United target this summer.
Where to watch Club World Cup 2025 fixtures
For long periods FIFA had struggled to sell the broadcasting rights for the competition, but struck a deal with DAZN for global rights worth a staggering $1 billion.
All matches are available to watch through DAZN, with a subscription priced at £24.99 per month, or £14.99 per month if you sign up for 12 months.
Channel 5 has also acquired the rights to broadcast 23 of the 63 games across the tournament, which includes 15 Group Stage games, four Round of 16 fixtures, two quarter finals, a semi final and the Final.
Could it be the next big thing in the football calendar?
With no international tournaments taking place this year, the Club World Cup will certainly fill a void for football fans. The jury is out among those fans though as to whether it’ll be the tournament that FIFA is not only selling it as, but also hoping it’ll become.
With many star attractions, though, as well as some exciting match-ups, it’s certainly going to get us purring over the coming weeks and what’s even better is that we have no idea who could come out on top. Roll on June 14…
The article was provided by Kate Richardson