In a landmark decision, the United States has been unanimously appointed as the host country for the first-ever 32-team FIFA Club World Cup in 2025.
The announcement was made by the FIFA Council in a statement issued on Friday. The tournament will serve as a prelude to the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is set to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the US.
FIFA selected the US as the host based on its proven track record of staging global events and its ability to maximize synergies with the 2026 World Cup. The decision marks the return of the men’s World Cup to North America after a gap of three decades since the US hosted the event in 1994. Mexico had previously hosted the finals twice, in 1970 and 1986, while this will be Canada’s first time hosting a men’s World Cup tournament.
FIFA will now engage with relevant stakeholders to finalize the dates, venues, and match schedule for the new tournament. According to FIFA, the 2025 Club World Cup will be the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football, and the US is ideally positioned to kick off this new global tournament.
The competition will feature 12 slots for European clubs and one for the host nation, with some of the world’s top clubs already qualified. FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed his enthusiasm, stating that fans from every continent would bring their passion and energy to the US in two years’ time for this significant milestone in making football truly global.
The Club World Cup, founded in 2000, is currently contested by seven teams and was last won by Real Madrid in 2022, who have won it five times to become the world record holders. The next Club World Cup, the 20th edition of the competition, will be played in Saudi Arabia in December 2023.
