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English champion Manchester City, the European champion, lifted a fifth exceptional cup in 2023 for the “Citizens” after winning the Club Football World Cup for the first time in its history on Friday in Saudi Arabia, as European clubs continued their dominance in a tournament that had become devoid of competition.
Since the Brazilian Corinthians defeated the English Chelsea with a clean goal in 2012, the winner of the Champions League title has been crowned the Club World Cup champion. City’s 4-0 win over Brazilian Fluminense was the 22nd in a row for European clubs in the competition.
The absence of competition is one of the reasons for changing the format of the tournament starting in 2025.
Infantino revealed that the FIFA Council has approved the holding of the 2025 edition of the Club World Cup, with the participation of 32 clubs, and the best clubs in the world will be invited to participate in it.#clubs World Cup pic.twitter.com/SIx6ep7fMo
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 16, 2022
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) urges its European counterpart (UEFA) to seek to benefit commercially from the European elite clubs that will face each other in the knockout rounds.
The presence of 12 European clubs will increase the competition, but there is a risk that a tournament designed to crown the best club in the world will turn into a mini-version of the Champions League every four years.
The idea of adding matches to an already crowded schedule was met with rejection from the Professional Players Association (FIFPro).
🚨 Urgent:
FIFA determines the mechanism for qualifying Asian and African clubs for the 2025 Club World Cup 🏆• Champions of the AFC Champions League and CAF Champions League for the 2021-2024 period qualify directly for the Club World Cup. pic.twitter.com/tpx9ebrYoa
– Ezz – Al-Badil (@1Mmnb) March 14, 2023
The Club World Cup, which will be played between June 15 and July 13, will mean that the end of the league season will come less than one month before the start of a new season.
In return, FIFA insists on distributing financial resources to major clubs on other continents, to avoid the constant flow of the best talents from all over the world to Europe.
Frenchman Arsene Wenger, head of football development at FIFA, said: “The positive impact (of the new amendment) on clubs will be huge, because it will increase the resources for clubs around the world to develop and compete.”
He added, “We are lucky in Europe, but it is important to make football truly global, and this (amendment) creates an opportunity for other clubs to advance. This is the real goal.”
Urgent 🏆 Al-Ahly of Egypt and Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the Club World Cup officially under the new system 2025
FIFA decides to qualify the African and Asian Champions League champions for the 2021-2024 period directly to the 2025 Club World Cup 🏆. Thus, Al-Ahly and Al-Hilal officially guarantee participation in the tournament in 2025 pic.twitter.com/EJgQwjPBhk— just kenani (@Kenani2030) March 14, 2023
The development of Saudi football
The Saudi League attracted veteran Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who was crowned the best player in the world five times, Frenchman Karim Benzema and Brazilian Neymar, in addition to other brilliant names in the first wave of contracts.
It is true that Al-Ittihad Club – for which Benzema, his compatriot N’Golo Kante and Brazilian Fabinho play – lost to Al-Ahly of Egypt 1-3 in the second round (quarter-finals), but with the project of transforming Saudi Arabia, which will host the 2034 World Cup, into a power in the world of football, it is possible to form its clubs. A major threat in the competition in 2025.
#urgent | Al-Ittihad Club wins the Fair Play Award in the 2023 Club World Cup#Manchester_City_Fluminense#clubs World Cup | #SSC pic.twitter.com/70fVwczdM2
– Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) December 22, 2023
The stands were not full in Saudi Arabia’s first hosting of the Club World Cup, despite the strong public support from the fans of Fluminense and Al-Ahly.
Spaniard Pep Guardiola (City coach) and Brazilian Fernando Diniz (Fluminense coach) also expressed their frustration with the condition of the ground in the stadiums that hosted the tournament.
The Kingdom quickly became a destination for hosting major sporting events, such as the Formula One World Championship and boxing, tennis and golf tournaments.
It is possible that Saudi Arabia will host the Club World Cup in 2029 or 2033 in preparation for the main event of hosting the 2034 World Cup, as long as it seeks to exploit its wealth in football.
The format of the tournament, which is currently based on the participation of 7 teams playing in a knockout system over the course of a week, will change, to become with the participation of 32 clubs divided into 8 groups over the course of a month in the United States.
The FIFA Council approved the approach used in distributing seats, making the decision based on a set of objective measures and criteria that determined the number of participants from each continental federation.
The International Federation Council explained that the teams were divided into 8 groups, each consisting of 4 teams, with the first and second from each group qualifying.
Starting from the round of 16, one match will be held, and the winner qualifies for the next round, and there will be no match to determine third and fourth places.
