FIFA has announced the 32 participating clubs in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, which are headlined by some of the greatest players to have competed on the global stage over the last two decades, including 26 FIFA World Cup™ winners.
The new FIFA Club World Cup will see the world’s top 32 club teams compete to be crowned the first true global club world champions across 63 games in 12 venues and 11 Host Cities in the United States – Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, DC.
No fewer than 13 of the Argentina squad that lifted international football’s biggest prize in Qatar in 2022 will feature, led by Inter Miami CF’s Lionel Messi, who is likely to feature in the opening game against Al Ahly FC on Saturday, 14th June.
There are nine of France’s victorious 2018 vintage, including Real Madrid C. F. star Kylian Mbappé and Les Bleus’ then-captain Hugo Lloris of Los Angeles Football Club. Another three, Ousmane Dembélé, Lucas Hernandez and Presnel Kimpembe, come to the US as European club champions having claimed that title late last month with Paris Saint-Germain.
“The list of participants at the inaugural 32-team FIFA Club World Cup is a true reflection of a tournament that will be the most competitive and inclusive of global football, bringing together the best talents from every continent to decide the true FIFA world club champion,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “We have 26 players who will be seeking to be among the first group of stars to raise two World Cups: the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.”
Spanish side Atlético de Madrid boast the most FIFA World Cup winners with six while Argentinian giants CA River Plate are next-best with four. The past four world champion nations will each be represented as FC Bayern München’s Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer were in the Germany squad that won in Brazil in 2014, while Inter Miami’s Sergio Busquets and CF Monterrey’s Sergio Ramos were part of the Spain side that triumphed in South Africa in 2010 alongside Real Madrid CF’s new coach Xabi Alonso.
Impressively, nine of the 11 Host Cities will host at least one group-stage game potentially featuring a FIFA World Cup winner, giving the entire fanbase across the US the opportunity to watch the world’s greatest players in person.
Highlighting the global nature of the tournament, the FIFA Club World Cup will see players from all six confederations and 81 countries participating in the tournament, including 22 nations that have never before played in a FIFA World Cup.