We are merely six months away from the launch of the unprecedented, newly expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, and the excitement is continuing to simmer throughout the footballing world. But Mystino Casino Bonus Code bettors may wish to know — which teams are going to be participating in the upcoming tournament?
The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000, running parallel with the Intercontinental Cup, a competition played by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores — the biggest club competition in Europe and South America, respectively. However, the 2001 Club World Championship was cancelled due to financial hardships, whilst the following three years failed to produce a second edition.
These two competitions were merged in 2005, and in 2006, it was renamed the FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament featuring seven (occasionally six) of the most successful teams in each competition. Between 2007 and 2023, European clubs would win all but one Club World Cup, with Corinthians edging Chelsea in 2012. Manchester City demolished Fluminense 4-0 in the most recent Club World Cup Final, which would be the final of its kind.
After an 18-month hiatus, the Club World Cup will return in the summer of 2025. This time, there won’t be seven teams, but 32 teams from six different confederations. It will take place between June 15 and July 13 with 12 different venues in 11 cities across the United States hosting the matches. But just who exactly will be playing in the newly formatted Club World Cup?
The first match of the tournament will take place in Miami as Inter Miami play against Al Ahly. Unlike Los Angeles FC and Columbus Crew, who won the MLS Cup in 2022 and 2023, Miami have not won the highest prize in American soccer, with the Herons being eliminated in the first round of this year’s playoffs. However, they did achieve the best regular-season record in MLS history after racking up 74 points this year thanks in large part to the heroics of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in attack.
“MLS gave FIFA strong indications about which teams, in their mind, should go, but no one’s that surprised,” stated MLS legend Taylor Twellman in an RG News interview. “FIFA’s going to do what FIFA wants to do. If anyone’s surprised that the opening game of this inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, which is in Miami, will be starring the greatest player of all time, then nobody’s paying attention. This is a new format, with a new amount of teams, but when the tournament kicks off next summer, I don’t know if anyone’s going to be complaining.”
Miami will take on Egyptian behemoths Al Ahly, who won the 2020–21, 2022–23, and 2023–24 CAF Champions League, before playing Portuguese side FC Porto, one of the five eligible teams which qualified via the four-year confederations ranking, and Brazilian outfit Palmeiras, who won the 2021 Copa Libertadores title.
The only other MLS team in the tournament is Seattle Sounders, who won the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League. Seattle will be going up against Spanish heavyweights Atlético Madrid and French champions Paris Saint-Germain, who have won each of the last three Ligue 1 titles, as well as Brazilian club Botafogo, who won this year’s Copa Libertadores.
Moving on, German behemoths Bayern Munich will be going up against New Zealand’s Auckland City FC, who are the sole representative of Oceania after winning the OFC Champions League in 2022 and 2023. They are joined by Argentine powerhouse Boca Juniors and Portuguese colossus Benfica, both of whom qualified due to UEFA and CONMEBOL’s four-year ranking.
Over in Group D, 2020/21 UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea have been placed alongside Brazilian colossus Flamengo — champions of the 2022 Copa Libertadores — Tunisian outfit Espérance Sportive de Tunis, and Mexican outfit León, who won the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
Boca’s local rivals River Plate have been selected in Group E, where they will meet Mexican club Monterrey, who won the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League, in addition to reigning Italian champions Inter Milan and Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, who won the 2022 AFC Champions League. Meanwhile, German club Borussia Dortmund will be taking on Brazilian club Fluminense, who won last year’s Copa Libertadores, as well as South Korea’s Ulsan HD and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.
English champions Manchester City, the winners of the previous Club World Cup, will be going up against Italian giants Juventus as well as the Emirati outfit Al Ain, who won the 2023/24 AFC Champions League, and Moroccan club Wydad AC, who won the 2021/22 CAF Champions League. Last but not least, European champions Real Madrid will face off against Austrian titans Red Bull Salzburg, Saudi champions Al-Hilal — who won the 2021 AFC Champions League — and Mexican outfit Pachuca, the winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
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