No Involvement in Club World Cup will be Good for Liverpool | OneFootball

There were many people within the world of football who weren’t entirely convinced that the FIFA Club World Cup would even go ahead this summer. The tournament had previously been one that took place in the middle of each season, pitting the winners of the various continental winners of trophies organised by governing bodies that come under FIFA’s jurisdiction, but now it has been replaced by one that is due to take place every four years, moving to the summer and adding even more games to the calendars of the teams that are taking part in it. Liverpool aren’t this summer, so is that a good thing?

What the Competition Now Looks Like

In the latter part of 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced plans to expand the Club World Cup to 32 teams, starting in 2019. Those plans were changed to 24 teams late in 2017, moving to take place every four years starting in 2021. That was stopped on account of the world health crisis at the time, so FIFA took the chance to go back to its plans to expand it to involve 32 teams and starting in 2025. Clubs and national associations have objected to the plans, accusing FIFA of prioritising making money over the health and well-being of the players that would take part in it.

In spite of this opposition, FIFA ploughed ahead with their plans, splitting the 32 teams into right groups of four, seeing the top two teams of each group going into the knockout stage. There are four clubs from the AFC, four from CAF, four from CONCACAF, six from CONMEBOL, 12 from UEFA and one from OFC along with one from the host nation. The teams that have been selected from each confederation based on specific criteria, with the previous European performances across a specific period being what they looked at and that meant that Chelsea and Manchester City qualified from England.

It Will Distract From Summer Plans

Liverpool were very close to taking part in the Club World Cup. In December 2023, it looked as though the Reds might end up playing in it if the criteria had been about the coefficient of the clubs over the previous four years, but instead FIFA said that previous winners had to take part and that only two clubs could play from each country. That meant that the 2021 Champions League winners Chelsea qualified from the Premier League, as did the 2023 victors Manchester City. There was no room for the Reds, but that may well be seen as a blessing in disguise by Arne Slot and his management team.

Although there is a prize money of $1 billion on offer and the winner is likely to pick up around $100 million, the fact that the tournament gets underway in just a couple of weeks’ time means that Liverpool’s players would’ve got virtually no time to relax and unwind at the end of the season. Manchester City have had problems all season long, so Pep Guardiola won’t have as much time on the training pitch as he would’ve liked to try to get things back on track. Arne Slot, meanwhile, will have the entire summer to work on how to get the most out of his team ahead of the new campaign.

Others Are Busy Whilst We’ll Be Working

The reality of the situation is such that Liverpool can do whatever they want this summer. They are going on a pre-season tour to Asia, spending time in Hong Kong and Japan, with Arne Slot and his team able to work out precisely how to spend time getting the players ready for the campaign that is due to get underway next August. The same is not true of either Chelsea or Manchester City, who won’t know the point at which they will be knocked out of the Club World Cup. They have no sense of how much rest the players will get, whilst Liverpool’s players have already been enjoying a break since the moment that they won the league against Tottenham Hotspur on the 27th of April.

It is also worth noting that not having much time with his squad might not be the only problem that Pep Guardiola has for the forthcoming season. The Spaniard will be aware that the sword of Damocles that is the 130 charges facing Manchester City is still dangling and might well drop at any moment. It means that it is more than likely that Arsenal will be Liverpool’s only major opponent for the title next season, so missing out on the Club World Cup can only be a good thing in terms of preparing for, and coping with, the challenges that lie ahead for Slot and his charges.