The 2025 Club World Cup will be the first edition to use a new format that differs from previous editions. Like major world tournaments such as the European Championship or the FIFA World Cup, the 2025 Club World Cup will be played in the summer after the European season.
The 2025 Club World Cup will be held in the United States from 14 June to 13 July and will feature 32 teams from six football confederations. The United States, which will host the 2026 World Cup, will host the tournament, which will be played in 11 cities.
The host is Inter Miami, and 12 European clubs will play in the tournament: Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and RB Salzburg.
The first phase of the competition will begin with the new group, followed by the knockout stage, which will begin with the last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The results of the group draws have also been announced. However, one of the participants has been excluded by FIFA.
FIFA bans Leon
This is a Mexican club from Liga MX, Leon, and they have a player who was once famous in Europe, James Rodriguez. Leon were supposed to be in Group D along with Flamengo, Esperance de Tunis and Chelsea.
However, FIFA banned Leon from taking part because they did not meet the criteria for multi-club ownership. The company that owns Leon also owns another Mexican club, Pachuca, which is also competing in the 2025 World Cup.
According to ESPN, two clubs with the potential to replace Leon are Tigres UANL and Philadelphia Union. Meanwhile, Leon is not sitting still and will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“This is a cruel and unfair act that we do not condone and we do not know who benefits, but we do know who is harmed: our fans,” read Leon’s statement.
“Leon has at all times complied with all relevant processes, submitting all necessary expert reports, hearings and investigations. We are an independent, autonomous and sovereign team. There is no doubt about that”.
“Leon Club will appeal this decision with all possible means and we will do everything in our power to retain our place at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.”
