What is the Club World Cup?

The FIFA Club World Cup is the newest tournament in the world. This tournament is the club version of the FIFA World Cup and brings together the world's best teams. The eventual winner is officially crowned world champion. But who participates? And how exactly does the tournament work?

A total of 32 clubs from around the world are participating in the tournament. The distribution by continent is as follows:

• Europe: 12 clubs

• South America: 6 clubs

• North America: 5 clubs

• Africa: 4 clubs

• Asia: 4 clubs

• Oceania: 1 club

🇪🇺 Europe

The winners of the last four Champions League seasons qualify automatically:

• Chelsea

• Real Madrid (2x)

• Manchester City

The remaining European spots are based on the Champions League standings of the past four years. A maximum of two clubs per country are considered.

Examples:

• Because Real Madrid has already qualified, Barcelona is out of the running, as Atlético Madrid is higher in the rankings.

• Liverpool are not participating because Chelsea and Manchester City have already qualified.

• Dutch clubs like Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord unfortunately didn't quite get enough points. RB Salzburg, for example, finished with just one point more than Ajax.

✅ European clubs ranked:

• Bayern Munich

• Inter Milan

• PSG

• Borussia Dortmund

• Porto

• Atlético Madrid

• Benfica

• RB Salzburg

• Juventus

🌎 South America

The four Copa Libertadores winners and the two highest-ranked clubs qualify:

• Palmeiras

• Flamengo

• Botafogo

• Fluminense

• River Plate

• Boca Juniors

🌍 Africa

• Al-Ahly

• Wydad Casablanca

• Espérance de Tunis

• Mamelodi Sundowns

🌏 Asia

• Al Hilal

• Urawa Red Diamonds

• Al Ain

• Ulsan Hyundai

🌎 North America

• Inter Miami

• Monterrey

• Seattle Sounders

• Pachuca FC

• Los Angeles FC

🌊 Oceania

• Auckland FC

🏆 How does the tournament work?

The tournament consists of eight groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage (last 16).

Tournament structure:

1. Group stage : 8 groups x 4 teams

2. Round of 16 : Numbers 1 vs. Numbers 2

3. Quarterfinals

4. Semi-finals

5. Final : the winner becomes world champion