Pot allocations, how to watch live, fixture dates, potential opponents – 2025 FIFA Club World Cup group stage draw details

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·4 December 2024

Pot allocations, how to watch live, fixture dates, potential opponents – 2025 FIFA Club World Cup group stage draw details

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side will find out their opponents for the first phase of the brand new FIFA Club World Cup this week.

Manchester City qualified for their second appearance at the Club World Cup via their UEFA Champions League success in Istanbul, Turkey back in 2023 and the 1-0 win over Italian giants Inter Milan.

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Rodri’s single second-half goal ensured that Pep Guardiola would bring home Manchester City’s first-ever Champions League title, before the club would also go on to become FIFA Club World Cup champions in the following December.

Given the revamped tournament and scheduling for the United States in 2025, Real Madrid would not have the opportunity to take Manchester City’s crown and as such, Guardiola and his players have retained their title as the best football team on the planet since.

And Manchester City will be desperate to continue their status when they take on the world stage once again next summer, with the FIFA Club World Cup having been expanded to 32 teams and hosted by the United States following the conclusion of the ongoing season.

Ahead of the official draw procedure for the group stage of the tournament taking place in the United States this week, here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup group stage draw!

When will the group stage draw take place?

The group stage draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will take place in Miami, USA on Thursday 5 December 2024 at 13:00 local time and 19:00 CET.

FIFA have also explained, “The procedures feature several key principles to ensure competitive balance and geographical diversity throughout the group stage and, depending on sporting results, into the knockout stage.”

How will the group stage draw work?

FIFA have confirmed that all of the qualified clubs for the expanded Club World Cup have been allocated into four pots of eight teams each, with the respective confederation rankings that used as part of qualification for the competition applied to determine the position of each club within their confederation and allocate them to a pot accordingly.

Pot 1 consists of the four highest-ranked teams from Europe together with the four highest-ranked teams from South America, while pot 2 consists of the remaining eight teams from Europe.

Pot 3 consists of the two highest-ranked teams respectively from Asia, Africa, and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, alongside South America’s two remaining clubs, while pot 4 consists of the two remaining teams respectively from Asia, Africa, and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, alongside Oceania’s representative and the team representing the host country – Inter Miami CF.

How can I watch the group stage draw?

The draw, to be conducted as a live studio event, will be broadcasted around the globe via FIFA.com, FIFA+ and supporting channels on Thursday 5 December 2024 at 13:00 local time and 19:00 CET.

What pot will Manchester City be placed in?

As per confirmation from FIFA, Manchester City have been placed into Pot 1 for the group stage draw procedure alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, River Plate, and Bayern Munich.

What are the full pot allocations for the group stage draw?

Pot 1: Manchester City (ENG), Real Madrid (ESP), Bayern München (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Flamengo (BRA), Palmeiras (BRA), River Plate (ARG), Fluminense (BRA)

Pot 2: Chelsea (ENG), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Internazionale Milano (ITA), Porto (POR), Atlético Madrid (ESP), Benfica (POR), Juventus (ITA), Salzburg (AUT)

Pot 3: Al Hilal (KSA), Ulsan HD (KOR), Al Ahly (EGY), Wydad AC (MAR), CF Monterrey (MEX), Club León (MEX), Boca Juniors (ARG), Botafogo (BRA)

Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN), Al Ain (UAE), Espérance Sportive de Tunisie (TUN), Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA), Pachuca (MEX), Seattle Sounders (USA), Auckland City (NZL), Inter Miami (USA)

Are there any constraints for the draw procedure?

FIFA have confirmed a number of constraints that need to be considered prior to the draw and will become effective during the draw procedure:

No group can feature more than one team from the same confederation, applying to all confederations except UEFA (Europe) – which will be represented by 12 clubs at the tournament. As such, four of the eight groups will feature two European clubs.

A paired seeding principle based on the confederation rankings will be applied to the teams of pot 1 when allocating their respective groups.

Clubs from the same member association cannot be grouped together.

All clubs from pot 1 will be allocated to the first position of the group into which they are drawn.

For scheduling purposes, both clubs from the USA – Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders – will be automatically allocated to fourth position in groups A and B respectively.

Inter Miami will play in the opening match of the tournament at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, while the Sounders will open their campaign at Lumen Field, Seattle.

When will FIFA Club World Cup be played?

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup tournament will take place from 15 June to 13 July 2025, with a total of 12 venues used to host 63 matches across the United States, with the final played at MetLife Stadium in New York and the opening match at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA
TQL Stadium – Cincinnati, OH
Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC
Rose Bowl Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
Hard Rock Stadium – Miami, FL
GEODIS Park – Nashville, TN
MetLife Stadium – New York New Jersey
Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL
Inter&Co Stadium – Orlando, FL
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Lumen Field – Seattle, WA
Audi Field – Washington, D.C.

The tournament’s full match schedule – including stadiums and kick-off times – will be finalised and published once the draw has taken place this week.

FIFA have stated that the process will be “taking into account a range of factors including sporting and player-centric criteria, local and travelling fans and global broadcast considerations”.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will feature a group stage composing of eight groups of four teams per group playing in a single-game round-robin format, and the top two teams per group progressing into the round of 16.

From then, a direct single-match knockout stage from the round of 16 to the final will take place, with FIFA also confirming that there will be no third-place play-off match at the competition.