The International Football Federation on Friday relaunched its plans for an expanded Club World Cup, an initiative frozen during the pandemic. She announced an agreement in principle around a four-year tournament with 32 teams, the first edition of which will take place in the summer of 2025.
“What we have decided is a World Cup at 32 every four years, the first edition will take place in 2025 in the summer,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino during his closing press conference. of the 2022 World Cup. “Today, the FIFA Council unanimously took this decision in principle,” added Infantino, saying that the details of the new tournament remained to be clarified, while European football has historically been opposed to the project, rival of its lucrative Champions League.
“In consultation with everyone”
“It will be the best teams in the world that will participate, I’m sure. All the details will be worked out, in which country we are going to organize all this… It will be worked out in the coming weeks, in the coming months, in consultation with everyone, ”said the Valaisan.
Launched in 2000, then definitively established in the landscape in 2005 to replace the defunct Intercontinental Cup, the Club World Cup currently pits the best team from each of the six FIFA confederations against each other, including the supporters of the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores, as well as a formation of the organizing country, i.e. seven teams.
In February 2023 in Morocco
In 2019, FIFA had planned to organize in the summer of 2021 in China the first edition of a Club World Cup extended to 24 teams, a flagship project of Gianni Infantino intended to increase the interest of broadcasters and sponsors. But the world body then postponed this competition, officially “to make room for the Euro and the Copa America”, initially scheduled for the summer of 2020 and postponed for a year due to the pandemic.
In addition, the next edition of the Club World Cup, with Real Madrid as favorites, will be held in early February, and for the third time in Morocco, Infantino announced on Friday. The Club World Cup had already been organized on Moroccan soil in 2013 (victory of Bayern Munich) and 2014 (coronation of Real Madrid). In 2022, this tournament was organized in the United Arab Emirates, with the key to the coronation of Chelsea.