Several top European football clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, and Barcelona, will not participate in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup 2025 scheduled to take place in the United States.
The tournament has been significantly expanded to include 32 teams, with a total of 63 matches planned across various venues in the United States.
Qualification Criteria Explained
The exclusion of these prominent clubs stems from FIFA's qualification criteria, which prioritizes Champions League success and limits participation to only two clubs per national association.
For England, Manchester City and Chelsea secured their spots as they won the Champions League in 2023 and 2021 respectively. This automatically ruled out other English clubs, including Liverpool and Arsenal, despite their strong performances in recent years.
Liverpool would have qualified through UEFA rankings had Manchester City and Chelsea not already secured England's two allocated spots by winning the Champions League.
European Representatives
Europe has been allocated 12 spots in the tournament. With Real Madrid qualifying as 2022 and 2024 Champions League winners, and this year's champions Paris Saint-Germain also securing a place, the remaining nine European spots were determined by UEFA rankings based on performances over a four-year cycle.
The other European clubs that qualified through UEFA rankings include Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Benfica, and Red Bull Salzburg.
Barcelona's absence is particularly notable, as the Catalan giants failed to meet the qualification criteria despite their historical success in international competitions.
The expanded Club World Cup format represents FIFA's efforts to elevate the tournament's profile and create a more competitive global club competition that rivals the prestige of continental tournaments.
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