Liverpool to miss out on new £150m tournament because of Man City | OneFootball

Liverpool will miss out on a place in a lucrative tournament being staged by FIFA - and it's all thanks to Manchester City's victory in the Champions League final.

The inaugural 32-team Club World Cup is set to take place in the summer of 2025, with prize money of approximately £150 million up for grabs.

However, Jurgen Klopp's men won't have the opportunity to compete for that cash after being pushed out of contention.

How can European clubs qualify for the Club World Cup?

Per The Mirror, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has already confirmed that 12 sides from Europe will take their place among the 32-team field.

Of those 12 clubs, eight will be decided by the UEFA club coefficient rankings. At this point, Liverpool sit fourth overall on that list and would theoretically have an opportunity to qualify via that route.

The problem for the Merseyside club is that the other four slots will be given to the winners of the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 Champions League.

That means that Chelsea (2021 winners) and Man City (2023 winners) have already qualified for the money-spinning tournament, alongside (2022 winners) Real Madrid.

Only two teams from each country can qualify for the competition, so City's Istanbul triumph has essentially confirmed who the representatives from the Premier League will be.

A third English side could potentially make the final 12 if they win next season's Champions League, but given that Liverpool will be playing in the Europa League next season, they won't be eligible for that qualification path to the Club World Cup.

The current format of the Club World Cup sees teams from six confederations gather to compete in an annual knock-out tournament.

The Reds came out on top back in 2019 when they defeated Monterrey in the semi-finals before outlasting Flamengo in a hard-fought final at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.

As prestigious as it is to be able to say that you are champions of the world, Liverpool's victory four years ago will have been worth just a fraction of what the 2025 winners are expected to receive.

Despite justifiable concerns over fixture congestion with an expanded Champions League soon to take up even more space on the European football calendar, the Club World Cup looks likely to enjoy a return to prominence with a nine-figure sum at stake.

For 2025 at least, though, Liverpool won't be among those vying for that prize.