Summer vacations must wait as 32 clubs head to US for expanded Club World Cup
This month-long football tournament is a prelude to the next Fifa World Cup to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico in 2026
[SINGAPORE] The odd-numbered years are usually when there isn’t any major football tournament taking place in the summer. This year, however, marks a big shift from that tradition with the expanded Fifa Club World Cup kicking off in the United States next weekend.
The sport’s governing body Fifa caused a big shakeup when it announced that it changed the format from an annual seven-team tournament to a massive 32-team event to be held every four years. This latest edition – set to take place from June 14 to July 13 – is meant to be a prelude to the 2026 World Cup that will be staged across the US, Canada and Mexico.
The 32 teams involved this year have been placed into eight groups of four, with each club playing their group opponents once. The top two from each section will progress to the round of 16, and from there it will be single-match knockouts all the way to the final.
Inter Miami and their star player Lionel Messi will feature in the opening match, with the Major League Soccer team facing Egyptian club Al-Ahly at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on the evening of Jun 14 (Jun 15, 8 am kickoff, Singapore time).
The championship match will take place on Jul 13 at the 82,500-seater MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey – the same venue where next year’s World Cup final will be played.
In the first of this two-part preview on the Club World Cup, BT Weekend looks at three teams – unsurprisingly, all of them are from Europe – that are among the hot favourites to lift the trophy.
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Paris Saint-Germain
Fresh from winning the Champions League in Munich last week, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) bulldozed everything in their path to claim an impressive treble of trophies this season.
After jettisoning Kylian Mbappe last summer, many did not expect PSG to make much of an impact on the continental stage. How wrong they were. The Parisians did not just defeat Inter Milan in the Champions League final – they slaughtered their opponents by a record margin, 5-0, to leave no doubt that they are the best side in club football.
PSG are a joy to watch, and they have a squad blessed with the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Goncalo Ramos. Manager Luis Enrique relishes the big occasions, and he will be key to motivating his exhausted players to give it one more go in America and bring home another piece of silverware.
PSG are in Group B where they will face Seattle Sounders (USA), Botafogo (Brazil) and Atletico Madrid (Spain).
Manchester City
The Citizens didn’t have the best season, by their lofty standards. They finally relinquished their grip on the English Premier League to Liverpool, having won it for the past four seasons.
In the Champions League, Pep Guardiola’s men only went as far as the Round of 16 where they lost both legs to Real Madrid. City also tasted defeat in the FA Cup final last month as Crystal Palace stunned them at Wembley.
Still, City seem to have sorted out most of their defensive frailties and they do have one of the world’s best strikers in the form of Erling Haaland, who spent many weeks out through injury and is now back fully fit and raring to go.
City are in Group G and they will square off against Juventus (Italy), Wydad AC (Morocco) and Al Ain (UAE).
Real Madrid
When Madrid signed Kylian Mbappe from PSG last summer, many thought the Frenchman would deliver the goals needed to win trophies this season. The 26-year-old did score plenty (38 in total) for Madrid, but his new team didn’t have much silverware to show for it, except the Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
Given a choice, those were probably the two trophies on the bottom of the priority list for Los Blancos. They came in second to Barcelona in La Liga, and were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.
Desperate to salvage some pride, Madrid and their new coach Xabi Alonso will descend on the US and do what they can to win the Club World Cup. They have a squad packed with winners, including the likes of Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham. The latest signing is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who just joined from Liverpool.
Madrid are in Group H along with RB Salzburg (Austria), Pachuka (Mexico) and Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia).
Check out Part 2 of our Club World Cup preview, where we spotlight four teams that could spring a surprise.
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