Manchester City will compete in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 and here is everything you need to know about the tournament.
The Club World Cup has been looming on the horizon like an ominous dark cloud for years, with the promise of more inconvenient fixtures to come.
Manchester City have known they’ll be competing in the new-look Club World Cup ever since they lifted the Champions League in 2023.
Pep Guardiola and some of his players have made no secret of their frustrations with having yet another tournament added to an already-packed calendar, with injuries and fatigue being increasingly felt throughout the top level of football.
Yet, they have no choice but to compete in the tournament in 2025 and here is everything you need to know about it.
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What is the FIFA Club World Cup?
With the Champions League and World Cup, expanding tournaments is in vogue at the moment and the Club World Cup is the latest to be massively inflated.
The Club World Cup used to be a seven-team tournament contested between the reigning continental champions of every federation. It would take place every year, usually in the winter, and last about a fortnight.
The Champions League winner would get a bye to the semi-final and only have to compete in two games maximum.
Now, however, the tournament has been completely revamped and resembles a traditional World Cup but competed between clubs rather than nations.
The competition is now 32 teams strong and eight groups of four will compete in a one-game round-robin format to qualify for the knock-out stages.
The Club World Cup will now take place every four years.
How did Man City qualify for the Club World Cup?
City finished last season’s Champions League campaign as quarter-finalists but since they recently lifted the famous trophy in 2023, they had already qualified for the Club World Cup.
Likewise, fellow recent winners Chelsea and Real Madrid are in along with nine other European clubs who have qualified on the back of their Champions League performances over the last four years.
UEFA will have 12 representatives in the tournament, more than any other region, with Bayern Munich, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Inter, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and Salzburg also making the cut.
However, only two clubs per nation are allowed so 2022 finalists Liverpool have missed out.
Six places have been awarded to South American clubs, four each to sides from Asia, Africa and North and Central America while Oceania have received just one space.
Who will Man City face in the Club World Cup group stage?
The draw for the competition was held on Thursday, December 5 and pitted City in Group G alongside Juventus, Wydad and Pachuca.
Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami
Group B: Paris St-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica
Group D: Flamengo, Esperance Sportive de Tunisie, Chelsea, Club Leon
Group E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey, Inter Milan
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg
When is the Club World Cup played?
The Club World Cup will be placed into the ever-expanding football calendar as if it were a traditional World Cup or European Championship.
It will be held following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season during what would usually be a rare summer break for players and will last for nearly a month.
The tournament gets underway on June 15, 2025, and will run until the final on July 13.
How many games could Man City play in the Club World Cup?
If City were to go all the way to the Club World Cup final then they would play a total of seven games.
Following the three-game group stage, the knock-out rounds kick off with a last-16 tie before heading to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. In a change from the World Cup, there is no third-place play off.
Should City reach the final then they will play an additional 630 minutes of football before the new season even starts and that’s not including any potential periods of extra time.
Criticism of the Club World Cup
The Club World Cup has come in for stiff criticism from players and managers for the additional strain it is placing on already over-worked athletes.
With the Premier League season concluding on May 25, that leaves just three weeks for players to rest before the tournament starts and then the new campaign begins five weeks after the tournament finishes.
Fifa is facing legal action from player unions and leagues about the scheduling of the tournament, while some City representatives have made their frustrations clear.
Pep Guardiola hit back at FIFA over ‘strongest’ squad rule
Guardiola has repeatedly bemoaned the added fixtures to the schedule, dismayed at the extra burden it will put on his players, and has asked for the start of City’s 2025/26 league campaign to be delayed.
Speaking in October, the manager raged against Fifa declaring that clubs must bring their ‘strongest’ squad to the tournament and not allow players to miss it.
He said: “What is the strongest players? Which ones? FIFA will tell me for THEM which players are stronger than the other ones? I don’t understand that.
“We will go all the squad there. We don’t go for one game, right? So I don’t know who is the competition itself right now, but we’re not going with 11 players, we’re going with the whole squad.
“I don’t understand how the selection of players is ‘stronger’ than other ones? I know! Stronger means in-form, and maybe the strongest for them is in really, really, really bad conditions! For many reasons; personal, physical, injuries, niggles, and we’re going to play other ones.
“I’m not going to be told before the games which players are going to play, I will decide, for sure!”
Rodri said he thinks players will soon strike before his injury
Speaking in September, Rodri claimed footballers were close to going on strike due to the increased workload.
He said when asked if a players strike was a possibility: “I think we are close to that.
“If it keeps this way, it will be a moment that we have no other option, but let’s see.”
Just five days on from his statement, Rodri suffered his season-ending knee injury.
Manuel Akanji jokes he’ll have to ‘retire’ early
Speaking in September, Manuel Akanji said he might have to retire early at the age of just 30 due to the demanding workload. Though a joke, it doesn’t seem massively unrealistic .
“It’s so tough,” said Akanji. “You don’t just think about this season – but also next season.
“Let’s say we win the league or cup, then go to the final of the Club World Cup; the Community Shield is three weeks after. So when do we have holidays?
“There are no breaks in winter, so if we are lucky we get two weeks and then we need to be back and into next season.
“Then the next summer it’s the World Cup. There’s no end to it.
“It’s just game after game and I don’t know how it will work out over the next couple of years.
“You can’t just keep adding game after game and assume everything will be like it was. You have to think about the players as well.
“At some point you’ll be too tired to play any more games.
“And then come injuries, definitely. We train as hard as possible and we are fit – but there has to be a limit.
“Maybe I’ll retire at 30!”
Kevin De Bruyne has slammed Fifa
Speaking on international duty in September, Kevin De Bruyne slammed Fifa for caring more about money than for players’ welfare.
He said: “The real problem will emerge after the Club World Cup.
“We know there will be only three weeks between the Club World Cup final and the first Premier League match. So, we have three weeks to rest and prepare for another 80 matches.
“Maybe this year things will be OK, but next year could be problematic. The Professional Footballers’ Association in England and other player associations have tried to find solutions.
“The issue is that UEFA and FIFA keep adding extra matches, and we can raise concerns, but no solutions have been found. It seems that money speaks louder than the players’ voices.”
Where will the Club World Cup be held?
The 2025 edition of the Club World Cup will be held in the United States. The tournament will kick-off in Miami is and is scheduled to conclude in New Jersey.
The matches will take place in the following stadiums:
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, Georgia
- TQL Stadium – Charlotte, North Carolina
- Bank of America Stadium – Cincinnati, Ohio
- Rose Bowl Stadium – Los Angeles, California
- Hard Rock Stadium – Miami, Florida
- GEODIS Park – Nashville, Tennessee
- MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Camping World Stadium – Orlando, Florida
- Inter&Co Stadium – Orlando, Florida
- Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Lumen Field – Seattle, Washington
- Audi Field – Washington DC
How to watch the Club World Cup
After months of speculation and protracted negotiations, Fifa finally announced they have agreed a broadcast deal for the tournament.
DAZN will be televising all 63 games in the tournament in a deal reportedly worth in the region of £800m.
Though DAZN is usually a premium platform, all the matches will be freely available to watch.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “This deal means every single football fan across the globe can watch the best players from the 32 best clubs compete in the new Fifa Club World Cup to be the first official ‘Fifa Club World Champions’.
“The new Fifa Club World Cup is a merit-based, inclusive tournament that will be the pinnacle of global club football, capturing the imagination of players and fans across the world.
“Through this broadcasting agreement, billions of football fans worldwide can now watch what will be the most widely accessible club football tournament ever – and for free.”
Have Man City won the Club World Cup?
Yes, Manchester City have already won the Club World Cup. Or at least they did in its old format.
As well as qualifying for the tournament in 2025 after winning the Champions League, City qualified for the 2023 edition, too.
Guardiola’s side defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in the semis before dispatching Fulminense 4-0 in the final.
