December 4 – FIFA has seeded the 32 qualified clubs for the December 5, 2025 Club World Club draw into four pots, with four European and four South American clubs making up the top eight seeds in Pot 1.
Europe’s top seeds are all in mixed form currently. Manchester City and Real Madrid are misfiring in domestic and European competition, while Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain lead their national leagues but have failed to set the Champions League alight.
UEFA has 12 clubs qualified for the CWC with the other eight European clubs filling up Pot 2.
Fluminense, Flamengo, Palmeiras, and River Plate make up Conmebol’s top seeds. Current Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo, who also look set to win Brazil’s Serie A in the next week, are seeded into Pot 3 which consists of the two highest-ranked teams from the AFC, CAF, and Concacaf.
Pot 4 consists of the two remaining teams from the AFC, CAF and Conmebol plus Auckland City from Oceania and the controversial wild card pick Inter Miami.
The draw rules mean no group can feature more than one team from the same confederation, though with 12 clubs from UEFA, four of the eight groups will feature two European clubs.
A paired seeding principle based on the confederation rankings will be applied to the teams of pot 1 when allocating their respective groups.
FIFA said the full match schedule with stadium allocations and kick-off times will be finalised after the draw, “taking into account a range of factors including sporting and player-centric criteria, local and travelling fans and global broadcast considerations.”
The dates, venues and teams that have been pre-selected will see Inter Miami CF play in the opening match of the tournament at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, while the Sounders will open their campaign at Lumen Field, Seattle, soon afterwards. Both teams will be allocated to fourth position in groups A and B respectively.
Club World Cup 2025 pot allocation
Pot 1: Manchester City (ENG), Real Madrid C. F. (ESP), FC Bayern München (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), CR Flamengo (BRA), SE Palmeiras (BRA), CA River Plate (ARG), Fluminense FC (BRA)
Pot 2: Chelsea FC (ENG), Borussia Dortmund (GER), FC Internazionale Milano (ITA), FC Porto (POR), Atlético de Madrid (ESP), SL Benfica (POR), Juventus FC (ITA), FC Salzburg (AUT)
Pot 3: Al Hilal (KSA), Ulsan HD (KOR), Al Ahly FC (EGY), Wydad AC (MAR), CF Monterrey (MEX), Club León (MEX), CA Boca Juniors (ARG), Botafogo (BRA)
Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN), Al Ain FC (UAE), Espérance Sportive de Tunisie (TUN), Mamelodi Sundowns FC (RSA), CF Pachuca (MEX), Seattle Sounders FC (USA), Auckland City FC (NZL), Inter Miami CF (USA)
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