Defending champions Manchester City have been grouped with Juventus for next summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, while Chelsea have been drawn in the same group as Flamengo.
City will also play UAE side Al Ain, and face Moroccan team Wydad AC in their Group G opener.
Chelsea will come up against Esperance Sportive de Tunis in Group D in addition to Rio-based Flamengo and will open their Club World Cup campaign against Mexican side Club Leon.
The new 32-team competition, to be hosted in the United States next summer, has been championed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino – but is the subject of two legal challenges in Europe, which both involve players’ union FIFPRO.
City and Chelsea qualified as 2023 and 2021 Champions League winners respectively, but were kept apart in the draw for the group stage as part of FIFA’s complicated regional constraints.
Should both English clubs progress to the knockout stages as group winners, they would go into opposite sides of the draw and would then not meet until the final.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will open the tournament with a Group A clash against Egyptian club Al Ahly at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on June 15. Palmeiras and Porto are the other teams that make up Group A.
The draw for next year’s tournament took place in Miami and was conducted by Juventus and Italy legend Alessandro Del Piero.
The innovative new FIFA Club World Cup Trophy, designed by FIFA and crafted in collaboration with global luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co, was unveiled for the first time by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and former Brazil striker Ronaldo ahead of the draw.
Club World Cup draw in full
Group A: Palmeiras (Brz), Porto (Por), Al Ahly (Egy), Inter Miami (USA)
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain (Fra), Atletico Madrid (Esp), Botafogo (Brz), Seattle Sounders (USA)
Group C: Bayern Munich (Ger), Benfica (Por), Boca Juniors (Arg), Auckland City (Nzl)
Group D: Flamengo (Brz), Chelsea (Eng), Club Leon (Mex), Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tun)
Group E: River Plate (Arg), Inter Milan (Ita), CF Monterrey (Mex), Urawa Red Diamonds (Jpn)
Group F: Fluminense (Brz), Borussia Dortmund (Ger), Ulsan HD (Kor), Mamelodi Sundowns (Rsa)
Group G: Man City (Eng), Juventus (Ita), Wydad AC (Mor), Al Ain (UAE)
Group H: Real Madrid (Esp), FC Salzburg (Aut), Al Hilal (Rsa), CF Pachuca (Mex)
Trump: Soccer is going through the roof
The audience at the FIFA Club World Cup draw in Miami watched a pre-recorded video message from US president-elect Donald Trump in which he said soccer is going “through the roof.”
Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, and their son, Theo, were among those at the event to draw groups for the expanded 32-team tournament that will be played in the United States next year.
Trump complimented FIFA president Infantino in his address.
He said: “I will try and be there if I can, I would. We’ll see what happens. But I just want to say you’re led by a man named Gianni. I just know him as Gianni and he’s a winner and he’s the president, and I’m the president.
“We’ve known each other a long time, and I’m so honoured to have this kind of a relationship because soccer is going through the roof. As everybody knows, it’s been doing fantastically well.”
Trump also noted the 2026 men’s World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“I want to say my highest regards in respect to Gianni, and it’s an honour to be with you and we’ll be with you very soon,” Trump said.
“And we’re going to be watching the World Cup, very importantly, also very soon. And I was very responsible, along with Gianni in getting it. And it’s going to be a fantastic thing.”
When is the 2025 Club World Cup?
The Club World Cup will take place over 29 days in the summer of 2025.
The tournament starts on June 15, with the final taking place on July 13.
Where is the 2025 Club World Cup?
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The 2025 Club World Cup takes place in the United States across 12 stadiums:
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
- Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)
- TQL Stadium (Cincinnati)
- Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles)
- Hard Rock Stadium (Miami)
- GEODIS Park (Nashville)
- Camping World Stadium (Orlando)
- Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando)
- Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
- Lumen Field (Seattle)
- Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
What’s the format of the Club World Cup?
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The tournament format works exactly the same as the FIFA World Cup, only for clubs.
The 32 teams have been divided into eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the knockout stage.
The last-16 stage – the first single knockout round – then moves to the quarter-final, semi-final and then final. There is no third-place play-off between the two losing semi-final teams.
Source : Sky Sports
