2025 FIFA Club World Cup Awarded to United States

FIFA will host its expanded 32-team Club World Cup in 2025 in the United States, bringing what is expected to be a test event ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to North America.

FIFA’s announcement on Friday said the host selection process took into consideration the infrastructure and service requirements, as well as broader strategic objectives for the tournament. The format for a Club World Cup lasting about three weeks has yet to be decided. One option is guaranteeing the 32 teams at least three games each playing in eight groups of four. The eight group winners could then advance to the quarterfinals. That would create a tournament of 56 games if a third-place game is included.

Friday’s announcement comes shortly after FIFA and Concacaf announced it will promote and market all major upcoming official Concacaf national‑team competitions together with the FIFA World Cup 2026. It’s widely believed that FIFA will use the venues and host cities that will be part of the 2026 World Cup for the expanded 2025 event.

“The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football and with the required infrastructure in place together with a massive local interest, the United States is the ideal host to kick off this new, global tournament,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “With some of the world’s top clubs already qualified, fans from every continent will be bringing their passion and energy to the United States in two years’ time for this significant milestone in our mission to make football truly global.”

The slot allocation per confederation and the key principles of access were already confirmed by the FIFA Council earlier this year. Europe will have 12 spots in the 32-team event with at least four spots — and possibly a fifth — going to Concacaf representatives. Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea already earned places as recent Champions League winners for the expanded tournament lineup that is set to test stadiums and operations one year before the 2026 World Cup. MLS’ Seattle Sounders also are in the lineup for the Club World Cup as the 2022 Concacaf champions.

FIFA also approved the hosting requirements for the 2030 World Cup, which would be the 100th anniversary of the inaugural competition. Those bidding regulations will be presented to approval at the next FIFA Council meeting later this year with the expected announcement of a host — or hosts — moved to the end of 2024.

Most of the potential bidders are co-hosted proposals; the inaugural 1930 World Cup host, Uruguay, is part of a centenary bid with Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. Spain and Portugal were joined last October for their longstanding European candidacy by Ukraine. There is also widespread speculation about a three-continent project that includes Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Greece, although reports are that Saudi Arabia may not participate in the project.

The other piece of business was the formal awarding of several other FIFA sanctioned events including the 2024 FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand; Indonesia as host of the 2023 U-17 World Cup, Colombia as host of the 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup, the Dominican Republic as host of the 2024 U-17 Women’s World Cup and Uzbekistan as host of the 2024 Futsal World Cup 2024.