Chelsea are one of 30 teams who have qualified for next summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, with two more to be added soon. Here is all the confirmed information so far on the new-look competition…
FIFA’s global club competition has been expanded for the 21st edition, which will be played next year.
So far, 30 of the teams taking part have already been decided, of which Chelsea were one of the first, thanks to our triumph in the 2021 UEFA Champions League. All six regional confederations will be represented as 32 clubs compete across 63 matches in 12 cities for the right to add global glory to continental success.
Below you can find all the information on when and where the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be played and which teams the Blues could face when we bid to become world champions for just the second time in our history, following victory in the smaller 2021 competition.
Fitting a similar schedule to the national teams’ World Cup, the expanded tournament will begin on Friday 15 June 2025 and run for just over four weeks, with the final taking place on Sunday 13 July 2025.
The first of the new-look Club World Cups will be hosted by the USA, with 12 venues chosen by FIFA to hold matches, predominantly on the East Coast. Games are planned to be played at the below venues, many of which will be familiar to Chelsea supporters from our pre-season tours of America:
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
Rose Bowl, Los Angeles, California
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Florida
GEODIS Park, Nashville, Tennessee
MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, New York
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington
Audi Field, Washington, DC
The competition will begin with a group stage, with the 32 teams being divided into eight groups of four. Those four sides will face each other once, with the top two from every group progressing to a traditional knockout phase of one-off matches, starting in the last 16.
So far 30 out of the total 32 teams have sealed their qualification for the 2025 tournament. Each region will send their last four continental champions, with the remainder of their spots taken by the highest ranked teams from their competitions over the last four years.
The one exception is Oceania, as their solitary spot is taken by the highest ranked of their champions, while hosts the USA will nominate one additional team from Major League Soccer to complete the line-up. Potential seedings for the draw are yet to be confirmed, meaning as things stand Chelsea could face any of the qualified sides in the group stage:
Atletico Madrid – Spain
Bayern Munich – Germany
Benfica – Portugal
Borussia Dortmund – Germany
Chelsea – England (2021 Champions League winners)
Inter Milan – Italy
Juventus – Italy
Manchester City – England (2023 Champions League winners)
Paris Saint-Germain – France
Porto – Portugal
Real Madrid – Spain (2022 and 2024 Champions League winners)
Salzburg – Austria
Boca Juniors – Argentina
Flamengo – Brazil (2022 Copa Libertadores winners)
Fluminense – Brazil (2023 Copa Libertadores winners)
Palmeiras – Brazil (2021 Copa Libertadores winners)
River Plate – Argentina
TBD – South America’s final spot will go to the 2024 Copa Libertadores winners, with Atletico Mineiro, Botafogo (both Brazil), Penarol (Uruguay) and River Plate competing in the semis ahead of the final on 30 November. If already-qualified River Plate win that competition, the Club World Cup spot will go to the next highest ranked team, currently Olimpia from Paraguay.
Leon – Mexico (2023 Champions League winners)
Monterrey – Mexico (2021 Champions League winners)
Pachuca – Mexico (2024 Champions League winners)
Seattle Sounders – USA (2022 Champions League winners)
Al Ain – United Arab Emirates (2023 and 2024 Champions League winners)
Al Hilal – Saudi Arabia (2021 Champions League winners)
Ulsan HD – South Korea
Urawa Red Diamonds – South Korea (2022 Champions League winners)
Al Ahly – Egypt (2021, 2023 and 2024 Champions League winners)
Esperance de Tunis – Tunisia
Mamelodi Sundowns – South Africa
Wydad – Morocco (2022 Champions League winners)
Auckland City – New Zealand (2022, 2023 and 2024 Champions League winners)
TBD – One further MLS team will be chosen as the hosts’ representative.
