The Club World Cup 2025 is coming soon. Here we explain how Chelsea qualified for the competition and which teams they could face in the group stage.
The 2024/25 season has gone better than most Chelsea fans would have expected, with new manager Enzo Maresca settling in well at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are inside the top four in the Premier League and at the top of the 36-team UEFA Conference League standings after four games.
The only real disappointment was their third-round exit of the EFL Cup to Newcastle as it was a wasted opportunity for Maresca to win his first trophy.
But the good news is that Chelsea enter the restructured Club World Cup next year, offering another chance to win some silverware.
There will be 32 teams at the 2025 Club World Cup, including 12 from Europe and six from South America.
The teams have all qualified based on performances in their respective confederation’s top club competition in the past four seasons – except Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
The premier club competition in Europe is of course the UEFA Champions League, of which the four most recent winners all qualify for the next Club World Cup. Chelsea won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel in 2021.
The remaining nine teams (because Real Madrid won two of the last four UCL’s) were assessed on wins, draws and overall progress in the competition.
Like the Champions League, the Club World Cup teams have been placed into one of four pots, with the draw taking place on Thursday.
Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and Salzburg are in Pot 2.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are in Pot 1 alongside Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate and Fluminense.
The Blues are one of the four highest-ranked teams in Pot 2, meaning they will face one of the four lowest-ranked teams in Pot 1. These are the four aforementioned Brazilian teams.
The Blues can be drawn against any team from Pots 3 and 4, including Boca Juniors, Inter Miami and Neymar’s Al-Hilal.
