By Ross Kelly
While even-numbered years bring the world the FIFA World Cup, the Euros and the Summer Olympics, odd-numbered years are normally glossed over when it comes to soccer competitions. That may change this summer, not with a new international soccer tournament but with an enhanced version of an existing one—the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held every four years going forward, and whose organizer hopes will become a must-see event for global soccer fans, just as the FIFA World Cup is quadrennially.
What’s New About It?
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will run from June 14 to July 13 and will be hosted by 11 cities in the United States. The event has been around, albeit to minimal fanfare, since 2000, but this year it’s both the first to take place during the summer, and it’s the first to have 32 teams. Previous editions were usually held in December and had seven teams, as was the case of the last Club World Cup in 2023, won by Manchester City.
The format will resemble what fans are accustomed to: eight groups of four, with the teams within each group facing off. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage with a Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and then a championship game.
Who’s Competing?
This World Cup is for clubs, not countries. You will see top club teams such as Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Inter Miami. The simplest way a team qualified for this event was by winning their confederation’s club championship—i.e. the UEFA Champions League or CONCACAF Champions League—over the last four years, or by being among the top-ranked teams within those confederations on a rolling four-year cycle.
Europe, represented by UEFA, was awarded 12 of the 32 slots, followed by South America getting six teams. Then North America, Africa and Asia each were awarded four teams. Finally, Oceania received one bid and the host nation received the final bid, awarded to Inter Miami.
Top Teams
Inter Miami (CONCACAF: MLS)
Inter Miami is a good place to start as it has, arguably, the game’s greatest player in Lionel Messi. With his time at Barcelona, Messi has already played in three FIFA Club World Cups, and his team won the tournament every time (2009, 2011, 2015), back when it invited only seven teams. Miami won the Leagues Cup in Messi’s first season with the team in 2023 and won the Supporters’ Shield in 2024, but 2025 has been a struggle. The squad had a nine-game stretch in which it won just two games, so Miami’s stay may be short-lived in the Club World Cup. However, with Messi still undecided about playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, this could be the last major international stage that fans can witness him on the pitch.
Seattle Sounders (CONCACAF: MLS)
The only other MLS team in the tournament is Seattle, which was also the first MLS team to play in any Club World Cup, in the 2022 version. However, the Sounders were one-and-done in that tournament, losing to Al Ahly and being sent home. If any team has home-field advantage in this event, it’s the Sounders, who will play all three of their group stage games at Lumen Field in Seattle, while Inter Miami will play two of three group games in South Beach. Neither Seattle nor Miami will host knockout stage contests.
Real Madrid (UEFA: La Liga)
The winningest team in Club World Cup history, Real Madrid has won this tournament five times, while no other club has even four victories. They also have the most match victories (12) and total goals (40) in the competition, while their star, Kylian Mbappé, will make his Club World Cup debut as his prior team, PSG, is making their debut in this tournament as well. While Madrid came up short to Barcelona in La Liga, in the Copa del Rey, and in the Supercopa de Espana this season, they can finally get one over on their rival as Barca didn’t qualify for the Club World Cup.
Manchester City (UEFA: English Premier League)
The defending champs saw their four-year stranglehold on the EPL come to an end as the squad placed third in the league this season after winning it each of the last four years. They still have one of the most recognizable players in the world in striker Erling Haaland, though he was injured when Man City won the 2023 tournament. While Haaland will suit up, Kevin De Bruyne will not—after 10 years with Manchester City, he is departing the team this summer.
Bayern Munich (UEFA: Bundesliga)
Bayern is the only other squad in the 2025 Club World Cup that has won this tournament multiple times, winning in 2013 and 2020. The team’s 11-year run of winning the Bundesliga ended in 2023-24, but they are poised to start a new streak as they claimed the league in 2024-25. Englishman Harry Kane will make his tournament debut after his former squad, Tottenham in the EPL, was never able to qualify. Kane led the Bundesliga in scoring each of the last two seasons, after doing so three times in the EPL, and he also won the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot in 2018. He’s on the shortlist to emerge from the 2025 Club World Cup as the event’s top scorer.
Palmeiras (CONMEBOL: Brazilian Série A)
Outside of European squads, teams from Brazil are the only others that have ever won this tournament over its 20 previous editions. Palmeiras stands as the country’s best chance at winning this year’s event as they’ve won two of their last three domestic league titles and sit atop the Brazilian Série A table this season. While they are losing 18-year-old sensation Estêvão to Chelsea via transfer on June 1, Palmeiras could land the venerable Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese legend has hinted his time in Saudi Arabia has come to an end, and if Ronaldo signs with one of the competing FIFA World Club teams, such as Palmeiras, before June 10, he could suit up in the tournament.
Auckland City (Oceania: Northern League)
No squad has participated in this tournament more so than Auckland City, which plays in the most populous city in New Zealand. This will be their 12th trip to the Club World Cup, but success is fleeting. The team has won just three of 17 matches (3–2–12 record) and has, by far, the worst goal differential (-19) in the tournament’s history. The team did place third in the 2014 edition, but being in the same grouping as powerhouses such as Bayern Munich, Benfica and Boca Juniors for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Auckland City’s stay is expected to be short.
Play will begin on Saturday, June 14 and end on Sunday, July 13. The final will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the total prize pool for the 32 teams is $1 billion.
