FIFA Club World Cup format explained: What teams have qualified and how does the tournament work? | OneFootball

There’s no World Cup or Euros this summer, but fans do have a newly-revamped Club World Cup to look forward to as some of the world’s biggest teams descend on the United States for the inaugural competition.

The tournament has not been without its controversies after earning criticism from players amid fears they could burnout this summer following gruelling seasons and fixture pile-ups.

There were also concerns that the competition was failing to drum up interest from broadcasters as FIFA struggled to find an interested party before securing a deal to air it for free on DAZN.

But once the tournament finally gets underway on June 14, all those fears should be put to one side as teams put on a showcase of football that fans can sink their teeth into.

Below, Squawka details everything you need to know about the FIFA Club World Cup format, how it works and who is set to take part this summer.

Which teams will feature and how have they qualified?

In the original version of the tournament, a handful of sides who have won the world’s major competitions – the Champions League, the Concacaf Champions Cup, the CAF Champions League and the AFC Champions League – would take part, but it always felt small-scale and unbalanced.

Usually, the reigning Champions League winners would stroll to victory and it didn’t make for very exciting viewing, but now FIFA have turned it into a 32-team tournament with a lot more variety and quality teams introduced.

Rather than just having one team from Europe, there will now be 12 teams from the continent, with five teams from North America, six from South America, four from Africa and five from Asia and Oceania.

In addition to the major tournament winners, teams can qualify if they have won one of the tournaments between 2021 and 2024 or simply included through their high ranking. Inter Miami are an exception this – FIFA has selected them as the host team of the tournament.

Club World Cup teams

Al Ahly FC (EGY) – 2020/21, 2022/23 and 2023/24 CAF Champions League

Wydad AC (MAR) – 2021/22 CAF Champions League

Espérance Sportive de Tunis (TUN) – CAF ranking pathway

Mamelodi Sundowns FC (RSA) – CAF ranking pathway

Al Hilal (KSA) – 2021 AFC Champions League

Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) – 2022 AFC Champions League

Al Ain FC (UAE) – 2023/24 AFC Champions League

Ulsan HD (KOR) – AFC ranking pathway

Chelsea (ENG) – 2020/21 UEFA Champions League

Real Madrid (ESP) – 2021/22 and 2023/24 UEFA Champions League

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) – UEFA ranking pathway

Inter Milan (ITA) – UEFA ranking pathway

Benfica (POR) – UEFA ranking pathway

Borussia Dortmund (GER) – UEFA ranking pathway

Juventus FC (ITA) – UEFA ranking pathway

Atletico Madrid (ESP) – UEFA ranking pathway

Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) – UEFA ranking pathway

Seattle Sounders FC (USA) – 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup

Club Leon (MEX) – 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup

Pachuca (MEX) – 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup

Auckland City FC (NZL) – OFC ranking pathway

Palmeiras (BRA) – 2021 CONMEBOL Libertadores

Flamengo (BRA) – 2022 CONMEBOL Libertadores

Fluminense (BRA) – 2023 CONMEBOL Libertadores

Botafogo (BRA) – 2024 CONMEBOL Libertadores

River Plate (ARG) – CONMEBOL ranking pathway

Boca Juniors (ARG) – CONMEBOL ranking pathway

Inter Miami (USA) – Host nation slot

How does the group stage work?

This isn’t too hard to get your head around. The tournament will follow a similar format to a regular World Cup or Euros – with a group stage comprising eight groups of four teams.

The groups will follow a round-robin single-game format – which means each team plays each other once. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams in each group advances to the last-16.

There are some mouth-watering groups on offer after the teams were drawn into Groups A-H – with PSG and Atletico paired together in Group A.

In Group B, fans will get to see Bayern Munich take on Benfica, while Manchester City and Juventus will square off in Group G. Chelsea and Real Madrid have been given arguably the more straight forward groups. The Blues will take on Flamengo, ES Tunis and Club Leon, while Madrid face Al Hilal, Pachuca and Salzburg.

How does the knockout stage work?

This part is fairly straight-forward too. After the two top teams from each group progress to the knockouts, there will be direct single-match ties from the round of 16 all the way to the final.

The winner of Group A will play the runner up in Group B. The winner of Group C will play the runner up of Group D and so on – so it will be beneficial for each team to make sure they finish as strong as possible to avoid the big dogs of the tournament.

And to the relief of most teams taking part – with all the talk of players burning out – there will be no third-placed play-off game at the Club World Cup.

The third-placed game has often been criticised at the FIFA World Cup as being pointless and it has not been used by the Euros for decades. While it’s not thought this will be implemented at the 2026 World Cup next year, officials have listened to clubs by removing at least one unnecessary game.