When one tournament ends, another is ready to receive a rebrand. FIFA has announced its plans for the Club World Cup, including the removal of the current setup.
The new format will start in 2025 (via The Daily Star).
current configuration
Currently, the tournament consists of seven teams. The seven teams comprise the respective cup winner from each continent and the national league winner from the host country. Consequently, Europe has had a monopoly on competition.
The fact that two decades have passed since a team from outside Europe won is a testament to Europe’s dominance of the cup.
Corinthians were the last team from outside Europe to win the tournament in 2012.
The competition has lost all real merit and appears to be little more than a series of exhibition matches between the Champions League winners. Plans for a revamped tournament were drawn up in 2017. In 2017, FIFA evaluated proposals to increase the number of teams in the competition. at 24
a new look
Under the new setup, the tournament would replace the current FIFA Confederations Cup and would be played every four years by 2021.
Covid halted these plans in 2021. The competition standings would include the last four Champions League and Copa Libertadores winners. The remaining places would be awarded through coefficient rankings.
If the new tournament were to start this year, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Liverpool would qualify as recent Champions League winners.
Based on current World Cup slots (13 European teams), the remaining nine could qualify through their coefficient rankings. This would see Manchester United and neighbors City, PSG, Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Roma joining the shortlist.
Judging by that lineup, Europe would be the favourites, but South America always produces teams that could beat the odds.
South America has four or five competitors in the World Cup, while in the 24-team iteration, they received six.
Following the configuration of the World Cup places, Flamengo and Palmeiras would qualify as winners of the Copa Libertadores. Each has won it twice in the past four years.
The other three places, through coefficient rankings, could go to River Plate, Boca Juniors and Gremio. Al-Hilal, Ulsan Hyundai and Kashima Antlers would qualify via the AFC Champions League. Kawasaki Frontale and Jeonbuk FC would top the coefficient.
Wydad AC, Al Ahly and Espérance de Tunis would qualify via the CAF Champions League and Mamelodi Sundowns FC via the coefficient.
In CONCACAF, the Seattle Sounders, Monterrey, Tigres and Club América would also qualify.
Now there would only be two places left.
One position would go to the highest coefficient-ranked OFC team, New Zealand’s Auckland City, and the other to the hosts’ domestic league winners, assuming China would be Shandong Taishan.
With the teams decided, it’s safe to assume the tournament will play out like the current World Cup with one-legged knockout round matchups.
