Triple game challenge. River will receive Nacional de Montevideo this Thursday from 9 p.m. in a Monumental with the intention of crossing two short-term objectives off the list: winning to be the sole leader of Group H of the Copa Libertadores; convince football-wise to show more guarantees for the definition of the League Cup; and add three points that allow him being one step away from qualifying for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cupthe first edition of the tournament that will bring together the 32 best teams from the six international confederations.
Although the calendar demands other types of responses and commitments from Martín Demichelis’ team, between June 15 and July 13, 2025, the new FIFA club competition will be played in the United States and River is very close to sealing its ticket. Of the total of 32 places (12 from UEFA, 6 from Conmebol, 4 from AFC, 4 from Concacaf, 4 from AFC, 1 from OFC and 1 from the host country), there are already 21 qualified teams. Of them, three are from Conmebol. Palmeiras (1st), Flamengo (2nd) and Fluminense (4th) for having won the last Libertadores. Thus, three places remain to be settled on the continent: the champion of the current Libertadores and two teams by Conmebol ranking, the most direct route for the Millionaire.
As three of the four Brazilians that lead the ranking are already classified and Atlético Mineiro (3rd) will not be able to go for the top of clubs from the same country (a single exception is allowed if there are more than two champions), The two teams that are qualifying today are Boca (5th with 71 points) and River (6th with 70 points). But since the classification system only varies by performances in the Libertadores, Xeneize will no longer be able to add points and Millonario will surpass it with just two more points. That is to say, if this Thursday it defeats Nacional, it will reach 73 units and will be virtually classified with a million-dollar prize from both FIFA and Conmebol, which does not yet have official figures.
The National ante team (U): Armani; Herrera, Gonzalez, Paulo Diaz, Enzo Diaz; Nacho Fernandez, Villagra, Aliendro or Colidio, Echeverri, Ship; and Borja.
The classification methodology states that three points are added for each victory and one point for a draw, plus another three points for playing the group stage and three for each round of the competition passed. That is, at most, without winning the trophy, you can add about 52 points. As of today, after the first day, the closest active competitors of Demichelis’ team are Nacional (46 points), Independiente del Valle (42), Barcelona de Guayaquil (41) and Cerro Porteño (40), since both Athletico Paranaense (59), Olimpia (57), Inter (52), Vélez (49) and Racing (48) have no chance despite being better placed for not being part of this year’s Cup.
Thus, to become mathematically unattainable by its rivals, River needs to add 23 more points and reach 93 so that not even Nacional has a chance of surpassing it by being a finalist.: The most he could get, if he wins all his games and plays in the final, is 46 to reach 92. But, beyond that, if he achieves a victory tomorrow at the Monumental, the Millonario will already leave Boca behind, He will be 27 units ahead of his closest pursuer and it will be enough for him if Nacional, IDV, Barcelona or Cerro Porteño do not reach the semifinals and achieve less than nine successes in the entire tournament. A paved path.
What happens with Boca? Today he is entering the World Cup due to his points, but he will have to wait for the end of the tournament and he could lose his place in the event that another Argentine is champion: if Talleres, Estudiantes, Central or San Lorenzo lift the Cup, they will be involved with River for the maximum quota of two clubs per country on the access list. Meanwhile, if River is consecrated, Xeneize will directly seal its ticket.
The format of the tournament will have a group stage made up of eight groups of four teams each: it will be played in a single-match round-robin format. The first two from each zone will advance to the round of 16 and there will be a single-match direct knockout phase from the round of 16 to the final, without a match for third place.
The 21 teams classified for the 2025 Club World Cup
- Al Ahly (Egypt) – CAF Champions League champions in 2020/21 and 2022/23
- Wydad (Morocco) – 2021/22 CAF Champions League Champion
- Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) – 2021 AFC Champions League Champion
- Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) – 2022 AFC Champions League Champion
- Chelsea (England) – UEFA Champions League Champion 2020/21
- Real Madrid (Spain) – UEFA Champions League Champion 2021/22
- Manchester City (England) – UEFA Champions League Champion 2022/23
- Bayern Munich (Alemania) – UEFA ranking
- Paris Saint-Germain (Francia) – Ranking UEFA
- Inter Milan (Italia) – Ranking UEFA
- Porto (Portugal) – Ranking UEFA
- Benfica (Portugal) – Ranking UEFA
- Borussia Dortmund (Germany) – UEFA Ranking
- Juventus (Italia) – Ranking UEFA
- Monterrey (Mexico) – Concacaf Champions Cup 2021
- Seattle Sounders (United States) – Concacaf Champions Cup 2022
- Club Leon (Mexico) – Concacaf Champions Cup 2023
- Auckland City (Nueva Zelanda) – Ranking OFC
- Palmeiras (Brazil) – Conmebol Libertadores Championship 2021
- Flamengo (Brazil) – Conmebol Libertadores Champion 2022
- Fluminense (Brazil) – Conmebol Libertadores Champion 2023
The 11 places that have yet to be defined
- CAF Champions League Champion 2023/24
- Ranking CAF
- AFC Champions League Champion 2023/24
- Ranking AFC
- UEFA Champions League Champion 2023/24
- UEFA ranking (one team)
- Concacaf Champions Cup Champion 2024
- CONMEBOL Libertadores Champion 2024
- CONMEBOL ranking (of teams)
- A team for the host country