By Rob Tanner
It is billed as FIFA’s new era of club football, a “prime club competition” involving 32 clubs from around the world all descending on the United States from this month to try and win the Club World Cup.
Clubs from six federations and 20 nations will be competing in the expanded competition from June 14 to July 13, starting with a group stage then three knockout stages until the final, which will be at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The decision to expand it from seven clubs to a full-blown tournament a year before the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico has prompted criticism from the global players’ union, some national associations and some clubs due to the congested fixture calendar.
Ticket pricing and the impact on the transfer window have been topics of debate too — players will possibly be changing clubs during the tournament — as has the way qualification was decided.
One important rule was the restriction to two clubs per national association, unless more than two clubs from the same association won their confederation’s top club competition — such as the UEFA Champions League — within the four-year qualifying period.
Here The Athletic looks at which clubs will be involved and how they qualified, broken down into each federation.
Asian Football Federation (AFC)
Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Al Hilal won the AFC Champions League in 2021, seeing off Pohang Steelers (Korea Republic) 2-0 in the final at King Fahd Sports City. This will be the fourth time since 2019 they have participated in the Club World Cup (CWC).
Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
Urawa are also participating in their fourth World Club Cup and qualified by winning the AFC Champions League in 2022. Despite only winning the J League once (2006) they have lifted the AFC Champions League trophy three times (2007, 2017 and 2022).
Al Ain (United Arab Emirates)
Al Ain are the most recent winners of the AFC Champions League to qualify for their second competition. They won in 2024 when the competition was rebranded as Champions League Elite and started to run autumn to spring instead of spring to autumn.
Ulsan HD (South Korea)
Due to changes to the AFC Champions League Elite schedule during the rebrand, there were only three winners during the four-year qualifying period, so the federation’s ranking system was used to determine the fourth spot, which went to Ulsan due to their performance over that period, despite not winning the Champions League.
Confederation of Africa Football (CAF)
Al Ahly (Egypt)
Al Ahly’s dominance of the African CAF Champions League has complicated their allotment of four spaces. The Egyptian champions have won the continental title three times in the last four years and this will be their 10th participation in the CWC.
Wydad AC (Morocco)
Wydad won the CAF Champions League in 2022 to qualify for their third CWC. The final took place at the Red Devils’ home stadium, the Stade Mohammed V, against Al Ahly. A brace from Zouhair El Moutaraji secured a 2-0 victory over their long-time rivals and wrestled the title back from the Egyptian giants.
Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia)
Due to Al Ahly winning the Champions League in three of the qualifying years, the federation used the CAF rankings to determine the other teams that would enter the CWC. Esperance de Tunis were runners-up to Al Ahly in the 2024 Champions League final and have racked up 14 consecutive campaigns in the CAF Champions League proper, which put them top of the rankings and into the CWC.
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Based on the same pathway points system, the South African club take the final spot having reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Champions League twice over the four-year period.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf)
Monterrey (Mexico)
Monterrey qualify as the winners of the Concacaf Champions League 2021 with a victory over fellow Mexican side Club America. Striker Rogelio Funes Mori scored the winner in a 1-0 win in front of their home fans.
Seattle Sounders (US)
Seattle were the winners of the Concacaf Champions League in 2022, the first side from the US to lift the trophy for 22 years. They beat Mexican side Pumas 5-2 on aggregate after a 3-0 second-leg win on home soil.
Pachuca (Mexico)
Pachuca are the reigning winners of the Concacaf Champions League, having beaten Columbus Crew 3-0 last year. Former West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United and Everton striker Salomon Rondon netted twice in the final.
Los Angeles FC (US)
It should have been Liga MX’s Club Leon who won the Concacaf Champions League in 2023, but in March FIFA disqualified them because the club’s ownership structure violated rules prohibiting more than one team having the same owners. Instead, there was a play-in on May 31 between the federation’s top-ranked team Club America, runners-up to Leon in 2023, and the MLS club, LAFC, who came out on top.
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL)
Palmeiras (Brazil)
CONMEBOL has six places and the winners of the Copa Libertadores during the four-year qualifying period get a place each. In 2021, Palmeiras won a thrilling final against Flamengo in Montevideo.
Flamengo (Brazil)
Flamengo were winners of the Copa Libertadores in 2022, thanks to a 1-0 final win over fellow Brazilian outfit Athletico Paranaense.
Fluminense (Brazil)
Fluminense won it in 2023 after an extra-time goal from John Kennedy gave them a dramatic 2-1 triumph over Boca Juniors.
Botafogo (Brazil)
Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores in 2024, becoming the last of the 32 CWC teams to qualify (other than that Concacaf play-off), after a 3-1 win over Atletico Mineiro, despite playing most of the game with 10 men. It was their first continental title.
River Plate (Argentina)
River Plate qualified via the CONMEBOL rankings after reaching the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores in 2024. They have won 54 domestic titles and 12 international trophies, including the Copa Libertadores in 2015 and 2018.
Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Although they did not play in the 2024 Libertadores, Boca’s performance in 2023 edition, when they were runners-up to Fluminense, was enough to get them into the CWC via the rankings.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
Auckland City FC
The OFC has only one slot, determined by the winners of the OFC Champions League. The dominant force in the OFC is Auckland, who have won the Champions League 11 times in the past 14 years.
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
Chelsea (England)
UEFA get 12 slots, with four going to winners of the Champions League during the qualifying period. Chelsea won that competition in 2021, beating Manchester City in the final, when Kai Havertz scored the winner just before half-time for Thomas Tuchel’s men.
Real Madrid (Spain)
The winners of the Champions League in 2022, when they beat Liverpool, and 2024 when they beat Borussia Dortmund. They have won a record 15 European titles and La Liga 36 times.
Manchester City (England)
Winners of the Champions League in 2023 when they beat Inter. Rodri gave Pep Guardiola’s men a 1-0 win in Istanbul for their first European title.
Bayern Munich (Germany)
With Madrid having won the Champions League twice, UEFA’s nine other spots were determined by UEFA’s rankings. The teams that performed best in the Champions League during the qualifying period got in — unless two teams from that country had already qualified, hence Liverpool missed out. Bayern have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League at least in all four seasons.
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
The second-best eligible ranked club in the UEFA rankings were PSG, who have now reached the knockout stages of the Champions League in 11 consecutive seasons and performed well in the four-year qualifying period.
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
The third-best eligible ranked team in the UEFA rankings. Dortmund became European champions in 1997, but got in due to consistent performance in the Champions League, including reaching the final last year, losing to Real Madrid.
Inter (Italy)
The fourth-best eligible ranked team in the UEFA rankings. They have been European champions three times, the last time coming in 2010, but what got them into the CWC was reaching the final in 2023, where they lost to Manchester City.
Porto (Portugal)
The fifth-best eligible ranked team in the UEFA rankings. Porto have been European champions on two occasions, the last coming in 2004, and have also won the UEFA Cup/Europa League twice, but reached the CWC via persistent performance in the Champions League over the four-year qualifying period.
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
The sixth-best eligible ranked team in the UEFA rankings. They have never won the Champions League, but have won the Europa League three times in nine seasons and the European Super Cup three times, and got in via their Champions League performances from 2020 to 2024.
Benfica (Portugal)
The seventh-best eligible ranked team in the UEFA rankings. The most decorated club in Portugal, with 38 titles, Benfica won back-to-back European titles in 1961 and 1962, and have been regulars in the Champions League.
Juventus (Italy)
The eighth-best eligible ranked team in the UEFA rankings after reaching the last 16 of the Champions League twice in four years. Juventus have been European champions twice, the last title coming in 1996, and domestic champions 36 times.
Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)
The ninth-best ranked team in the UEFA rankings. They got the final European spot via their performances in the competition over the past four years.
Host nation club
Inter Miami (US)
This was a controversial selection. Traditionally, this slot should be filled by the champion of the host nation’s competition. The play-offs winners in MLS in 2024, and MLS Cup winners, were LA Galaxy.
However, FIFA announced in October last year — after the end of the regular season and before the play-offs — that the host slot should go to the champions of a traditional league setting as opposed to MLS Cup.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, who were knocked out in the first round of the play-offs by Atlanta United, qualified by winning the MLS Supporters’ Shield, the trophy awarded to the team with the best overall record after 34 games in MLS’ regular season, with 74 points.
The New York Times