FIFA has announced the date for the new format of the Club World Cup which will be hosted in the United States and the teams that have qualified for the tournament.
The body confirmed in a statement released that the competition’s official name will be ‘Mundial de Clubes FIFA’ which will feature clubs from each of the six confederations. According to the organisers, the competition will kick off on June 15, 2023, and end on July 13, 2023.
Chelsea and Manchester take England’s places as European champions in the 2021-2024 which automatically rules out Liverpool and Manchester United can’t qualify because they’re not in this season’s UEFA Champions League and only two teams per country are allowed. However, Arsenal can qualify but only if they win the Champions League. The two teams per country rule can be waived for sides who win the UCL in the qualification cycle.
Other teams that have booked qualified for the competition include Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Benfica and Porto. There are four more spots left to be filled for European clubs in the competition.
It’s also confirmed the FIFA Intercontinental Cup will be played annually starting from December 2024
Stage A’ will have two rounds and see the winners of the AFC Champions League or the CAF Champions League (they alternate) play the winners of the OFC Champions League. The winner of this game will then play the winner of the AFC Champions League or the winner of the CAF Champions League (whichever wasn’t originally in ‘Stage A’) for a place in the main tournament.
‘Stage B’ sees the winner of the CONCACAF Champions Cup play the winner of the CONMEBOL Libertadores over a single leg in the home stadium of one of the clubs, with the hosts of the first edition to be determined by a draw and the hosting rights alternating thereafter.
The winner of ‘Stage A’ and ‘Stage B’ then faces a playoff, which is a semi-final, for a place in the final against the UEFA Champions League winner.
