Lincoln Financial Field will host six games in the group stage, one in the round of 16, and a July 4 quarterfinal. Philadelphia’s eight-game total is tied for the second-biggest of any host city.
Lincoln Financial Field will host four of Europe’s biggest teams and a South American powerhouse at next year’s Club World Cup.
FIFA, global soccer’s governing body, announced the schedule for the 32-team, 65-game tournament early Saturday morning. Organizers gave Philadelphia eight games, with six in the group stage, one in the round of 16, and a July 4 quarterfinal.
The first game here will feature Brazil’s Flamengo and Tunisia’s Espérance on June 16. Though South American soccer isn’t as widely followed in the United States as European soccer is, Rio de Janeiro-based Flamengo — its home stadium is the legendary Maracanã — has a huge fan base that’s renowned for traveling well.
They will show up here, and will get to stay in town for a few days because Flamengo plays here twice. The second time will be against England’s Chelsea on June 20, a game that could easily sell out the Linc if the ticket prices aren’t exorbitant.
Chelsea will then stay in town for its group finale against Espérance on June 24.
In between, on June 18, England’s Manchester City will face Morocco’s Wydad. That means Union teen phenom Cavan Sullivan, who will join City after the 2027 MLS season, gets to see his future club play in his home town. That game has a noon kickoff time on a Tuesday, for the benefit of European and African TV viewers.
On June 22, Italy’s Juventus will face Wydad. That could mean a visit from U.S. men’s national team stars Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, but don’t get your hopes too high. Because the Concacaf Gold Cup is being played at the same time, they could be with the U.S. national team.
It remains to be seen, and the rules are a bit controversial. FIFA traditionally requires club teams to release players for national team tournaments, but it’s not requiring clubs in the Club World Cup — its own event, of course — to release players on national teams in the Gold Cup.
» READ MORE: Is Cavan Sullivan really that good? Here’s what to know about the Union academy and its teen phenom.
The last group stage game here will feature perhaps the world’s most famous club, Spain’s Real Madrid, against Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg on June 26. It will have been 14 years since Real’s last (and only) visit here, when a U.S. tour included a friendly against the Union in their second season of existence.
That game drew 57,305 fans, which at the time was the second-largest soccer crowd in Linc history. Longtime Union supporters still recall Michael Farfan’s terrific chipped goal in the 2-1 loss to a Madrid squad featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Xabi Alonso.
If Los Merengues bring their full squad this time, they will be just as star-studded. Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, and Jude Bellingham top the club’s marquee these days.
Salzburg happens to be the team that the Union hired sporting director Ernst Tanner from, after he developed a slew of players who went on to be world stars. One of them will likely come to town with Man City, prolific striker Erling Haaland.
The round of 16 game here will be on June 28, with the winner of Group A and the runner-up in Group B. Group A has Brazil’s Palmeiras, Portugal’s Porto, Egypt’s Al Ahly, and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. Group B has Spain’s Atlético Madrid, France’s Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil’s Botafogo, and the Seattle Sounders.
Palmeiras and Porto are the favorites in Group A, and Atlético and PSG are the favorites in Group B — though PSG could slip up against a Botafogo squad that just won the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League.
(It’s a brutal draw for the Sounders, who get to host all their group games in Seattle but will likely be outmatched.)
» READ MORE: Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders will face big-time teams in next year’s Club World Cup
The winner of the round of 16 game here will stay in town for a quarterfinal against the Group C winner or Group D runner-up. Group C has Germany’s Bayern Munich (the favorite), Portugal’s Benfica, Argentina’s Boca Juniors (another big crowd draw), and New Zealand’s Auckland City (condolences). Group D is Chelsea, Flamengo, Espérance, and Mexico’s León.
Philadelphia’s eight-game haul is tied for the second-most of any city, with Miami. East Rutherford, N.J., will get the most games, nine. The football stadiums will be used in all three cities, and seven others.
MetLife Stadium will host a quarterfinal (July 5), both semifinals (July 8 and 9), and the final (July 13), as well as five group stage games. Notable teams visiting the Meadowlands for group games will include Palmeiras, Porto, Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, and Brazil’s Fluminense.
Washington’s Audi Field, one of four smaller soccer stadiums hosting games, is the other venue within close range of here. It will host three group games, including one with Juventus and one with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal — a club that has spent huge sums (from the government’s sovereign wealth fund) to attract superstars led by Brazil’s Neymar. Unfortunately, all three games in D.C. are on the same days as games here.
The full tournament schedule is available on FIFA’s website.
» READ MORE: Lincoln Financial Field will be one of 12 stadiums across 11 cities hosting the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Notably, the Club World Cup doesn’t have a U.S. television broadcaster yet. The only rights deal so far is for worldwide streaming on DAZN, a platform that is prominent in Europe, Canada, and Japan but has little presence here beyond boxing, mixed martial arts, and European women’s soccer.
DAZN will carry the games for free, but FIFA still hopes some U.S. broadcaster will do a deal. The Club World Cup isn’t part of the big FIFA rights package that Fox has in English and Comcast-owned Telemundo has in Spanish, and so far U.S. outlets haven’t wanted to pay what FIFA has asked for.
The New York Times recently reported that Fox’s top bid so far was only $10 million. DAZN is reportedly paying $1 billion for the global rights, and notably has a major sponsorship deal with the same Saudi investors who’ve put big money into soccer and other sports.
It’s surely just a coincidence that Saudi Arabia will soon be awarded hosting rights for the 2034 men’s World Cup — and is the only bidder.
As for the Club World Cup, we’ll see if setting the schedule leads to any more bids from U.S. outlets. FIFA’s announcement of the DAZN deal said it allows for “the possibility of sublicensing to local free-to-air linear broadcast networks,” but World Cups here are traditionally spread across free-to-air channels and cable.
» READ MORE: Don’t expect to see the United States in Philly during the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Monday, June 16: Flamengo (Brazil) vs. Espérance (Tunisia), Group D, 9 p.m.
Wednesday, June 18: Manchester City (England) vs. Wydad (Morocco), Group G, noon
Friday, June 20: Flamengo vs. Chelsea (England), Group D, noon
Sunday, June 22: Juventus (Italy) vs. Wydad, Group G, noon
Tuesday, June 24: Espérance vs. Chelsea, Group D, 9 p.m.
Thursday, June 26: Real Madrid (Spain) vs. Salzburg (Austria), Group H, 9 p.m.
Saturday, June 28: Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up, round of 16, noon
Friday, July 4: Group A winner or Group B runner-up vs. Group C winner or Group D runner-up, quarterfinal, 9 p.m.
