Neither Manchester United nor Liverpool will qualify for the new Club World Cup in 2025, even if either team wins the Champions League next season. FIFA plans to bring major changes to the major club competitions after the 2023 tournament, which is currently being held in Saudi Arabia.
The current format pits the champions of each continent against each other in an annual tournament to determine the best team in the world. However, the Club World Cup has failed to capture the imagination of the public since its inception in 2000. This is because the winning team of the Champions League almost always wins.
Manchester City face Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds in the tournament’s semi-finals on Tuesday, before facing either Brazil’s Fluminense or Egypt’s Al Ahly in the final on Friday. FIFA wants to make the Club World Cup one of the game’s most prestigious competitions by expanding it from seven to 32 teams for the 2025 edition in the United States. From now on, the competition will be held once every four years. To make the Club World Cup as big as possible, FIFA only allows two clubs from each province. A Premier League team can qualify for the final by winning the Champions League within four years.For the 2025 edition, the four-year period is 2020-2024. This means that Chelsea, who won the 2021 Champions League, and Manchester City, the current European champions, have secured two places in England for this competition. However, FIFA waives the two-club rule if there are more than two continental champions from the same country during the four-year qualification period. Therefore, if Arsenal win the Champions League this season, they will qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup.
But with Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Newcastle not in the Champions League play-offs this season, there is no hope of playing in the United States in 18 months. FIFA leaders met in Jeddah on Sunday to discuss the qualification criteria for the 2025 Club World Cup, which will be held from June 15 to July 13. Chelsea, Manchester City and 2022 Champions League winner Real Madrid have qualified.
A total of 12 teams from Europe will participate. The remaining nine teams will be selected based on their performance in the 2020 Champions League. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter, Porto and Benfica are guaranteed to qualify. Other teams in the hunt include Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Juventus, Napoli, Red Bull Salzburg and Lazio. Arsenal, Copenhagen, Real Sociedad and PSV will only qualify for the Champions League by winning this season.
