From 2025, the FIFA Club World Cup will expand to 32 teams and be played every four years.
In December 2023, Gianni Infantino and FIFA announced plans to expand the FIFA Club World Cup competition. Looking to add more excitement and popularity to the tournament, the plans include a drastic increase from 7 to 32 competing teams.
The competition, which has traditionally brought the champions of each continent together to determine the best of the best, has historically failed to fully engage fans and teams. In adding more competitive teams and matches to its format in 2025, FIFA is hoping to build greater excitement and ultimately generate as much revenue as possible.
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The 2025 competition will be the 21st edition and will take place across the United States between 15 June and 13 July 2025. The tournament will serve as a test event for a nation due to co-host the FIFA World Cup in 2026. The new format of the tournament will see more teams competing in more matches than ever before.
For the champions of Europe and South America (UEFA and CONMEBOL) this previously meant a maximum of just two matches, with their competitions beginning at the semi-final stages.
The new format will see 32 teams divided into eight groups of four, with the top two performing teams from each progressing to the knockout rounds. For European/South American teams, this means the maximum number of games will jump from two to seven.
Players and coaches have been vocal in their objection to the tournament revamp and perceived over-scheduling of matches at the end of a long season. Players have threatened legal action against the barrage of additional games added to their schedule this season.
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FIFA’s plans to expand its Club World Cup competition follows UEFA’s decision to expand its elite European club competitions, as the number of games in its UEFA Champions League competition expanded from 125 to 189 games this year, with teams each playing two extra group stage matches and a potential two-leg round-of-16 match.
One of the biggest concerns for players around the heightened schedule surrounds injuries. Most squads amass injuries throughout the season, but the greater number of fixtures only adds to a player’s chances of sustaining an injury.
Despite these fears, Infantino announced that participating teams would have to travel with their strongest squads and start their best players. The only major concessions by FIFA in this regard involve starting the transfer window earlier for these teams (set to run between 1-10 June 2025) and offering clubs the chance to make greater squad changes during the tournament.
FIFA’s priority here is not player welfare, but rather on staging the highest quality tournament it can. With the best players and teams in world soccer on display, they are hoping to generate better interest and engagement from fans, broadcasters, and sponsors alike, all of which results in greater revenue.
For the clubs, there is uncertainty around how much revenue they are set to generate from participating in the Club World Cup after early reports suggested prize money between €50 and 100 million ($55.17-100.32 million).
Such a windfall could help offset any losses for participating clubs having to delay their own pre-season tours. Global tours have become big business for clubs in Europe especially, as they look to build their international fanbases.
Chelsea, one of the participating teams in FIFA’s tournament next summer, last season began their pre-season tour of the US on 24 July. If the club were to reach the Club World Cup final on 13 July, this would only allow players around a week off during the summer.
Conversely, should clubs like Chelsea need to postpone the start of their pre-season training and list of fixtures, that could impact their preparations and momentum leading into the start of the 2025-26 league season.
Despite plans to boost the profile of the tournament and build its excitement, FIFA is yet to announce a single broadcast deal in any global market. In September, this caused Infantino to call an emergency meeting with global broadcasters to resolve this major issue for the governing body.
The world soccer organization has also failed to add new sponsors for the competition, with the only brands linked to the tournament being those already committed to FIFA partnerships (which cover all FIFA competitions).
One of the most recent moves by FIFA to build some interest in its new product has seen them announce the venues that will host the fixtures in the tournament.
The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia was played at two venues, the 2025 edition will be spread across the US and cover 12 stadiums in 11 different cities. Only four of these venues will also host matches at the 2026 World Cup.
List of all stadiums set to be used at FIFA Club World Cup 2025:
*Stadiums also set to be used at 2026 FIFA World Cup
Regardless of FIFA’s issues in attracting broadcast and sponsor partners, one area it should be able to generate revenue is ticket sales. Based on the size of the stadiums used, the average match at the tournament has the potential to sell an average of 57,500 tickets per match at next year’s Club World Cup.
With 2025 ticket prices having not been released yet, we have to base the average ticket price against the 2023 tournament, where its semi-final tickets were sold in three categories at 60 SAR ($16) 125 SAR ($33) and 175 SAR ($47) [2]. Using the middle-tier pricing here of $33, the competition has the potential to raise $119.54 million in ticket sales alone.
Other major issues facing the tournament’s broadcast and commercial appeal include potential scheduling conflicts. Other popular sporting events that could clash with the competition include the Wimbledon Championships (tennis), Tour de France (cycling) and NBA Finals (basketball).
Incentivizing fans to want to engage with the competition is another huge obstacle for FIFA to overcome. Fans have failed to fully engage with the previous 20 editions of the tournament which have taken place mid-season, so why would they engage with it now, at the end of a long season?
The summer months away from soccer are not something fans are necessarily calling for to be filled with more content, with the break doing more to build excitement for the following season. (European and South American) Fans already engage in soccer summer content every couple of years through continental competitions and the FIFA World Cup.
Getting behind your nation at a major tournament is a unique experience that halts club rivalries and unites a nation, it is something different. Fans are not calling for more games, even in the summer every two years when no national team soccer tournament takes place. The Club World Cup is just another tournament for FIFA and not one for the fans, players, or teams.
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