Sports
FIFA has named the 12 stadiums set to host the new-look Club World Cup in the United States next year.
The tournament, which will run from 15 June to 13 July 2025, is the first staging of an expanded 32-team competition.
Matches will be played across the US, with the final to take place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, five miles from New York City.
The other venues are:
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
- TQL Stadium, Cincinnati
- Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
- Geodis Park, Nashville
- Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
- Camping World Stadium, Orlando
- Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando
- Rose Bowl Stadium, Los Angeles
- Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- Lumen Field, Seattle
- Audi Field, Washington DC
Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid have all automatically qualified from Europe as the most recent winners of the Champions League in the last four-year cycle.
Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto and Benfica will also feature, thanks to their co-efficient rankings.
Six South American clubs and 12 teams from Asia, Africa and North America will make up the rest of the tournament, while a spot is given to one club from Oceania and another for the US as the host nation.
The Club World Cup had previously been an annual mid-season tournament which included six teams from seven worldwide confederations.
“In 2025 a new era for club football will kick off when Fifa stages the greatest, most inclusive and merit-based global club competition right here in the United States,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
Fifa’s decision to expand the competition has drawn criticism from clubs and players, particularly after Uefa expanded the Champions League and Europa League group stages to include two further matches.
Global players’ union Fifpro and the European Leagues body, which represents 39 leagues and 1,130 clubs in 33 countries, filed a joint complaint to the European Commission in July to protest Fifa’s “abuse of dominance” in the game.
Two months earlier, Fifa rejected a claim that Fifpro and the World Leagues Association were not consulted over plans to expand the Club World Cup.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, warned earlier this month that players were close to striking because of the congested fixture list.
Photo Caption: The MetLife Stadium hosted three matches at the 2024 Copa America
29th September, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: FIFA
