New York (dpa) – The first edition of the new Club World Cup will be held in eleven US cities next year. The final location will be the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, as the world football association FIFA announced at the “Global Citizen Festival” in New York’s Central Park. The new tournament from June 15th to July 13th will be held in the USA for the first time with 32 clubs, including FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from the Bundesliga.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and prominent guests such as Hollywood actor Hugh Jackmann and music producer DJ Khaled announced Miami, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington as additional host cities. Orlando is represented by two stadiums. Tournament games are also scheduled to kick off in Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
Who will be the TV partner of the tournament?
Infantino promised “a new chapter in football history” in a statement. However, the Club World Cup is not without controversy because the expansion of the tournament further inflates the already busy game calendar and, in particular, the industry’s top stars are threatened with a summer without a real break. It is also still unclear who will broadcast the games.
The Club World Cup will be drawn in December. FIFA assured that the schedule for the eight groups of four would be published shortly afterwards. The tournament is also a test run for the 2026 World Cup, which the USA is hosting together with Mexico and Canada.
