The Club World Cup is one of football's most important tournaments, bringing together the champions from each continent to play knockout matches and ultimately decide who will be the world champion. FIFA recently decided to change the tournament's current configuration in 2025: the Intercontinental Cup will thus become a kind of revamped Club World Cup contested by 32 teams.
Three Brazilian teams will take part: Palmeiras, Flamengo, and Fluminense, the three most recent winners of the Copa Libertadores. There is also a chance that a fourth Brazilian club will join the tournament, provided it wins the 2024 edition of the Copa Libertadores. South America has six places in total, which will be decided according to a ranking of points accumulated over the last four seasons.
The ranking will follow these criteria:
3 points for a win;
1 point for a draw;
3 points for advancing through each stage of the Libertadores.
European Clubs Will Also Adopt Similar Criteria
For teams affiliated with UEFA, the criteria are very similar to those applied to South American clubs. For the European teams, the competition used as the basis for the ranking is the UEFA Champions League, and there is also a slight change in the points system. Here is how it will work:
2 points for a win;
1 point for a draw;
4 points for qualifying for the group stage;
5 points for qualifying for the round of 16;
1 point for advancing through each stage of the competition from the round of 16 onward.
What Will the Competition Format Be?
The tournament will be held in the United States from June 15 to July 13, with at least three days of rest to ensure “player well-being.” The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, with the top two in each group qualifying for the round of 16. From that stage onward, the matchups will be decided in single games through the final, with no third-place playoff.
In addition to South American and European teams, the competition will also include four representatives from Asia and another four from Africa, one from Oceania, four from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, plus another from the host country, the United States.
The ‘Super Club World Cup’ Will Create a Dilemma for the Brazilian Calendar
The announcement of the 2025 Club World Cup was somewhat contentious for the CBF and Brazilian teams. That is because the Brazilian calendar will be packed in June, the month when the tournament begins, so the CBF will have to make some adjustments to enable the Brazilian teams to participate.
There is a significant possibility that we will have to see alternate lineups during one of the competitions. To understand the issue, one need only look at the 2024 calendar: between June 15 and July 13, there will be eight rounds of the Brazilian Championship, in addition to the Copa do Brasil, which will have reached the round of 16 by then.
