How do teams qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup?

If you thought you were going to enjoy a summer of respite in 2025, think again! The bigger and (potentially) better FIFA Club World Cup will be slapping you in the face from all angles.

The incessant stream of club football will not cease beyond the closure of the 2024/25 campaigns across the globe. In a bid to rejuvenate what has long been deemed in European quarters as a fairly insignificant event, FIFA has expanded their Club World Cup to 32 teams with the world's best outfits competing for the right to earn 'world champion' status.

However, whether the "world's best" will be competing in the USA next summer is another matter. Multiple clubs bound for stellar 2024/25 seasons aren't among the teams involved in the 2025 Club World Cup.

So, how did teams qualify for the expanded tournament? 90min breaks FIFA's process down.

How does 2025 Club World Cup qualification work?

All six federations will be represented at the 2025 Club World Cup, but each boasts a different number of slots for the tournament. UEFA have the most with 12 teams competing, CONMEBOL has six, while AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF each have four. OFC have just one, and the final spot was designated to a host country representative.

For the 2025 tournament, FIFA took into account performances over the past four seasons in the confederation's respective premier club competitions - the UEFA Champions League, for example.

Any continental champion since 2021 (in confederations with four or more slots) automatically qualified for the tournament, while other teams progressed via FIFA's ranking pathway.

In all federations excluding UEFA, teams were awarded three points for a win in their respective premier club competitions, a point for a draw, and three points for progressing into the next stage.

The system was a little different for European clubs competing in the Champions League. FIFA, as part of their qualification criteria, instead handed out two points for a win, one for a draw, four for group-stage qualification, five for progression into the round of 16, and one point for progression into each stage of the competition thereafter.

Those who amassed the most ranking points within each federation qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup. As UEFA had 12 available slots and only three different Champions League winners since 2021, nine teams qualified via ranking. CONMEBOL, meanwhile, had six slots and four different Copa Libertadores winners, so only two ranking spots were available.

Qualifying restrictions for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

There are few qualifying restrictions imposed for the expanded Club World Cup, but only a maximum of two clubs from the same country can make it through via the ranking pathway.

This restriction excludes those to qualify by winning the confederation’s premier club competition over the four-year period. Four Brazilian teams have won the previous four Copa Libertadores titles, for example, and all four have qualified for the tournament.

How teams qualified for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

Clubs qualified as Continental champions

Clubs qualified via ranking

Hosts

Can clubs from the same confederation meet in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage?

For the group stage draw, which takes place on Thursday 5 December 2024, all 32 teams will be placed into eight groups of four. Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders are already confirmed in Group A and Group B respectively given the competition is being played in the United States.

Teams are have been seeded for the tournament, with four numbered pots consisting of eight teams. Each club will be drawn into a group with one club from each pot, with pot one boasting the strongest sides and pot two hosting the weakest teams - on paper, at the very least.

However, no two clubs from the same confederation can be drawn against one another in the group stage, barring sides from UEFA. In the case of European teams, only two clubs from the continent can face off in the group stage.

Can clubs from the same nation meet in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage?

Similarly, no two clubs from the same nation can compete in the same group no matter the circumstances. For example, all four Brazilian sides in the competition will feature in different groups.

Even UEFA clubs can't compete in the same group if they're from the same national association. Chelsea will be unable to play Man City, Bayern Munich can't meet Borussia Dortmund and Madrid's two powerhouses won't clash in the group stage.

READ THE LATEST 2025 CLUB WORLD CUP NEWS AND HOW IT WORKS HERE