2023-12-17 11:01:20
The new Club World Cup, which will experience a real revolution in 2025, is gradually being revealed. We already knew that the competition will increase from seven to 32 teams, including twelve European teams. This Saturday, Sky News revealed new information on this World Cup. According to the English media, the 2025 Club World Cup will be held from June 15 to July 13, 2025 in the United States.
It will therefore begin just after the European season, two weeks after the Champions League final scheduled for May 31 in Munich. It will see twelve European teams compete, six from South America, four from CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean), four from Asia, four from Asia, one from Asia and a final one for the host of the competition.
Chelsea, Real and City already qualified
Some participants are already known, namely Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City as winners of the last three editions of the Champions League. The winner of the 2023-2024 edition, which will be known on June 1, will complete this list. The remaining eight European teams will be determined based on the performances of the last four seasons.
In South America, the last four winners of the Copa Libertadores will participate in the tournament, as will the last four teams who won the African Champions League. With this new version of the Club World Cup, Fifa wants to enable clubs around the world to compete with their European counterparts.
Even more matches in an already busy schedule
However, while players’ calendars are already being singled out, adding a new summer competition before each World Cup provokes reactions. Sky News indicates, for example, that it has learned that the global players’ union FIFPRO told Fifa that players needed a mandatory 28-day break between two seasons.
However, with this calendar straddling between mid-June and mid-July, the teams which would go as far as the final would not have this rest time, especially since training and pre-season matches are organized before each season. If a new competition is added in the summer, coaches will have to choose between making their best players play or rotating their squad, as is the case at this time of year. It could also be that the most affected championships (England, Spain?) will be forced to start their season later than usual.
According to its projections, the union estimates that certain players could play more than 80 matches for club and national team over the entire 2024-2025 season, or 10% more than currently. The English media takes an example from the Premier League but also from the Community Shield, traditionally played a week before the start of the championship. But there is no doubt that this problem concerns other European championships.
Especially since if we project a year later, the players will have to be made available to their national teams on May 25, 2026 to play in the World Cup, which will take place in North America. A competition already expanded to 48 teams, increasing the number of matches to 104, compared to 64 in Qatar in 2022.
“A risk of congestion and additional injuries”
In December 2022, the world leagues forum, which since 2016 has represented around forty professional football leagues reacted to the announcement of the new format of the Club World Cup. “While the calendar is already overloaded, with long-running national competitions and constantly expanding international competitions, Fifa’s decision creates a risk of congestion, additional injuries to players as well as an alteration of the collective balance,” pointed out the association.
The latest edition of the current Club World Cup format is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis of Al Attihad and Karim Benzema were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the Egyptians of Al Ahly. Manchester City, directly qualified for the semi-final, must face the Japanese Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday. The final will be played on Friday December 22 at 7 p.m.
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