The groups for the inaugural 32-team FIFA Club World Cup are now set with the draw taking place in Miami and it has created some interesting groups and matches between some of the world’s best teams.
The draw took place despite the uncertainty of the tournament going ahead amid legal action taken by the player’s union in FIFPRO regarding their concerns about footballers playing too many matches in a calendar year.
The draw also coincides with the recent agreement between football’s international governing body and streaming platform DAZN to broadcast the event reportedly paying US$1 billion for next year’s global broadcast rights.
For the layout of the pots, Pot One consisted of four teams from UEFA and CONMEBOL with the highest co-efficient ranking amongst the qualified teams. This would mean Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate and Fluminense would all place in the premier pot.
Pot Two was the remaining eight sides from UEFA in Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and Red Bull Salzburg.
Pot Three held the remaining two sides from the CONMEBOL allocation in Boca Juniors and Botafogo and then the top two sides on co-efficient ranking from the AFC, CAF and CONCACAF being Al-Hilah, Ulsan HD FC, Al Ahly, Wydad, Monterrey and Leon.
Pot Four consisted of the remaining AFC, CONCACAF and CAF sides of Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Espérance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns, Pachuca and the Seattle Sounders with lone OFC representative in Auckland City and Inter Miami would enter the competition through the host nation slot making up the last place.
Coming into the event, both host country sides Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders were placed into Group A and Group B.
This has allowed the Sounders to play their group games at home while Inter Miami will at least have the opening game of their campaign and the tournament in Miami.
There were also some restrictions placed in the draw to ensure competitive balance with the UEFA and CONMEBOL sides within their pots. For instance, the fifth-ranked to eighth-ranked UEFA sides would be drawn into groups containing the top four CONMEBOL sides.
The ninth to 12th-ranked UEFA sides would be drawn to groups containing the top four ranked UEFA sides.
The presentation featured plenty of American A-listers with the likes of Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell, and Australian Hugh Jackman representing some of the host cities.
Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
It also included a video message from US President-elect Donald Trump wishing FIFA President Gianni Infantino well before the draw started with his daughter Ivanka and her son Theodore being present in the room. They also drew the first team from Pot One Brazilian side Palmeiras.
The draw itself went without fault and has created some intriguing match-ups to watch out for. This includes games such as Real Madrid vs Al-Hilah, Bayern Munich vs Boca Juniors, Manchester City vs Juventus and PSG vs Seattle Sounders to name a few.
The tournament is set to kick off on June 15th between Egyptian side Al Ahly and US side Inter Miami at Hard Rock Stadium with the final scheduled for July 13th in New York at Metlife Stadium.
Groups for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Group A: Palmeiras (BRA), Porto (POR), Al Ahly (EGY) and Inter Miami CF (USA)
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Botafogo (BRA) and Seattle Sounders (USA)
Group C: Bayern Munich (GER), Auckland City (NZL), Boca Juniors (ARG), Benfica (POR)
Group D: Flamengo (BRA), Esperance de Tunis (TUN), Chelsea (ENG), Leon (MEX)
Group E: River Plate (ARG), Urawa Red Diamonds (USA), Monterrey (MEX), Inter Milan (ITA)
Group F: Fluminense (BRA), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Ulsan HD (KOR), Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA)
Group G: Manchester City (ENG), Wydad AC (MOR), Al Ain (UAE), Juventus (ITA)
Group H: Real Madrid (ESP), Al Hilal (KSA), Pachuca (MEX), Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)