Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will open this year’s Club World Cup against Egyptian club Al Ahly, as Kylian Mbappé and Neymar face off for Real Madrid and Al-Hilal.
Premier League champions Manchester City will face Juventus, Moroccan side Wydad AC and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the opening group stage of Fifa’s controversial tournament, while Chelsea will take on Brazil giants Flamengo, Mexico’s Club Leon and Esperance Tunis.
The new 32-team competition, to be hosted in the United States next summer, has been championed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino – but is the subject of two legal challenges in Europe, which both involve players’ union Fifpro. The draw for the competition was held in Miami on Thursday.
City and Chelsea qualified as 2023 and 2021 Champions League winners respectively, but were kept apart in the draw for the group stage as part of Fifa’s complicated regional constraints.
Pep Guardiola’s side will play Casablanca’s Wydad in their opening Group G fixture before taking on Al Ain and finish against Italian giants Juventus. Chelsea start in Group D against Club Leon, then play Flamengo and Esperance Tunis. Should both English clubs progress to the knockout stages as group winners, they would go into opposite sides of the draw and would then not meet until the final.
The tournament will be held in the US from 15 June to 13 July, using 12 stadiums in 11 different cities. The final will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the same stadium that will play host to the 2026 World Cup final.
Messi’s Inter Miami, as a representative of the host nation, have the distinction of playing the first match, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
“It’s about inclusivity, it’s about bringing clubs from all over the world, the 32 best clubs and best players from all over the world together,” Infantino said on Thursday.
Inter Miami’s selection was widely panned by critics, who saw the team’s inclusion as a way of crowbarring Messi into the tournament. The criticism only intensified when Miami were knocked out in the opening round of this season’s MLS playoffs, although they did finish top of the regular-season standings.
Major League Soccer have two teams in the tournament: Seattle and Inter Miami. The Sounders qualified as winners of the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, and Inter Miami qualified as the host nation’s representative.
“There is no rule that said the MLS Cup winner needs to be in the Club World Cup,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said. “I have no interest in anything other than what I think is going to be best for the showcase, best for our league. I am supportive of the decision that Fifa made and I’m excited to put Miami and Seattle in a global media deal and be shown around the world.”
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Other opening matchups include Paris Saint-Germain v Atlético Madrid and Brazilian club Botafogo playing at Seattle in Group B as well Real Madrid facing Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in Group H – a showdown of superstars, with Mbappé for Real Madrid and Neymar for Al-Hilal.
The club competition uses the traditional 32-team format used by the World Cup from 1998 to 2022. Eight round-robin groups of four teams each were drawn on Thursday, with the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
Europe got 12 spots and South America six, while Africa, Asia and North America all got four – with Inter Miami essentially a fifth from North America since it has host status. Oceania got one spot.
Groups for 2025 Club World Cup
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Internazionale.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al-Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Source: theguardian.com
