The United States will host the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will feature 32 teams, the international governing body of football (FIFA) revealed on Friday.
The redesigned Club World Cup will start being hosted every four years in June 2025, FIFA said in March.
The United States was chosen to host the inaugural match under the enlarged format by the FIFA Council in a unanimous vote.
The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
With the required infrastructure in place together with a massive local interest, the United States is the ideal host to kick off this new, global tournament.
Additionally, the United States will co-host the World Cup in 2026 with Mexico and Canada and the Copa America in 2024.
Confederation champions from 2021 to 2024 will be eligible to compete in the new Club World Cup, meaning Chelsea, Real Madrid, and last season’s Champions League winners Manchester City have qualified from Europe.
The current FIFA Club World Cup, an annual competition with seven teams, will be phased out after 2023.
FIFA has also agreed to postpone the start of the bidding process for the 2030 World Cup in order to conduct “additional consultation with all key stakeholders.”
The relevant bidding regulations will be presented for approval at the next FIFA Council meeting, due to take place in September/October 2023, with the bidding process to be officially launched thereafter,” it said.
The expected appointment of the host(s) by the FIFA Congress will also move from Q3 2024 to Q4 2024.
