Share

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, also marketed as FIFA Club World Cup 25, is the 21st edition and the first of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer competition organized by FIFA. The tournament is being played in the United States from June 14 to July 13, 2025. It is held in a format with 32 teams, including the winners of the four previous continental championships. Manchester City enters the tournament as the defending champion, having won its first title in the last tournament in 2023.

The expanded tournament format was announced in March 2019 and originally scheduled to be hosted by China in 2021 until a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. FIFA approved the allocation of slots between confederations in February 2023 and announced the United States as the host country four months later. The FIFA Intercontinental Cup was established as an annual tournament using a very similar version of the old format.The expansion of the tournament was met with criticism by players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum due to the impact it is expected to have on fixture congestion and player welfare.

Since its return from hiatus in 2005, the FIFA Club World Cup has been held annually in December and was limited to the winners of continental club competitions. As early as late 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino suggested expanding the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and rescheduling it to June/July to be more balanced and attractive to broadcasters and sponsors. In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years starting in 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup. The expanded format and schedule of Club World Cup, to be played in June and July 2021, was confirmed at the March 2019 FIFA Council meeting in Miami. China was appointed as host in October 2019, but the 2021 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States would host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams with the top two teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage. The format is the same of that used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022, with the exception of a third-place play-off. In January 2024, it was reported that the tournament would mainly take place on the East Coast to be closer to European broadcasters and viewers while also avoiding conflicts with the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will also take place primarily in the United States around the same time, but mainly in the Western part of the country.

Each club was required to name a provisional squad of between 26 and 50 players for the tournament. From June 1 to 10, 2025, the member associations of all participating clubs implemented an extraordinary transfer window to allow for the registration of newly signed players. Clubs were required to name their final squads of between 26 and 35 players, including at least three goalkeepers, by June 10.

During the competition, clubs may make limited changes to their final lists from June 27 to July 3, should the club’s member association have a transfer window open during this period, though no player can appear for two clubs during the tournament. French Montana and Swae Lee headlined the opening ceremony, which took place at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium before the opening match between Al Ahly and Inter Miami CF. Vikina and Richaelio also performed during the ceremony, and it was broadcast on DAZN.

The distribution model splits a total prize pool of US$1 billion between the 32 participating clubs. The winner of the tournament will be awarded up to US$125 million, marking a significant increase in financial rewards compared to previous editions. In addition to the prize money for the participating teams, a solidarity investment program has a target of an additional US$250 million being provided to club football across the world.