FIFA have announced plans for the expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams from 2025. The new-look tournament will be played between June and July, and will feature teams from all over the world participating.
UEFA will have 12 teams participating, while CONMEBOL will send six teams to the tournament. The Oceania Football Confederation will send one team, whereas the The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) will send four teams each. The last remaining spot will go to the host country.
FIFA Club World Cup format to change significantly from 2025
It is as of yet unclear how the different teams will be selected for the competition. From Europe, how many teams from the Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League will be selected is expected to be revealed later on.
With the participation from clubs on such a large scale, FIFA can expect to add more revenue to their books. They recently announced a record-breaking figure of $7.6 billion between 2019-2022. And there are expectations of the revenue shooting up to $11 billion between the period of 2023-2026.
With the new format of the Club World Cup, FIFA will have a lot more viewership on one of their organised tournaments. However, the question of player fatigue will also come into play since the schedule is already so packed.
The prospect of the European Super League replacing the Champions League remains a possibility. And it will be interesting to see how things play out on the organisational front over the coming years.
