Following the recent Copa Libertadores title won by Brazil’s Botafogo, the 2025 Club World Cup has completed its 32 participants and will hold the draw on Thursday, December 5 at 1 pm ET from Miami, United States.
Regarding the procedure for this draw, FIFA has said that it will have “fundamental principles” for competitive balance and geographical diversity in the group stage; a geographical diversity that will be complied with as best it can because UEFA is represented by 12 clubs in the tournament, which means that four of the eight groups will have two European teams.
This is the trophy for the new Club World Cup, which will be played under the new format from 2025. FIFA
But before we get into the draw, let’s review a few things about this upcoming competition:
- The tournament has changed and it will be the first time that the Club World Cup will adopt a 32-team format: a first group stage with 8 groups of 4 teams in which all will compete against each other in a single match.
- The top two teams from each group will advance to the round of 16, and from there they will go through the knockout phase to the final.
- There will be no third-place match (thanks, FIFA).
- The Club World Cup will be played from June 15 to July 13, 2025.
- Inter Miami, the team captained by Lionel Messi, will play the opening match of the tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Now, let’s talk about the draw.
Format of the Club World Cup draw
The 32 qualified clubs will be divided into four pots of eight teams each. According to the organisers, the allocation of the pots is based on the respective confederation classification tables.
The draw drums are made up as follows:
POT 1: It is made up of the top four UEFA teams and the top four CONMEBOL teams.
Manchester City
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Paris Saint-Germain
Flamengo
Palmeiras
River Plate
Fluminense
POT 2: consists of the remaining eight clubs in Europe.
Chelsea
Borussia Dortmund
Inter Milan
FC Porto
Atlético de Madrid
Benfica
Juventus
FC Salzburg
POT 3: includes the first two clubs from the AFC, CAF and Concacaf, along with two others from Conmebol.
Al Hilal
Ulsan HD
Al Ahly FC
Wydad AC
Monterrey
Club Leon
Boca Juniors
Botafogo
POT 4: Comprised of the remaining clubs from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, the Oceania entrant, and Inter Miami, which qualified for the Club World Cup by earning the host country’s berth and (which awards the best MLS regular-season team, not the MLS champion).
Urawa Red Diamonds
Al Ain FC
Espérance
Mamelodi Sundowns FC
Pachuca
Seattle Sounders
Auckland City
Inter Miami
According to FIFA, the draw will have several restrictions such as these. For example, in a group there cannot be more than one club from the same confederation (except those from UEFA).
Clubs in pot 1 will be seeded in the group they are placed in.
In addition, “for planning purposes, the two American clubs – Inter Miami CF and Seattle Sounders FC – will automatically be placed in position 4 of Groups A and B, respectively,” the organizers explained.
How to watch the draw
The event will begin at 1 p.m. local time in Miami. Elsewhere, the schedule is as follows:
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: 3 pm
- Mexico City, Mexico: 12 pm
- Bogota, Colombia: 1 pm
- Madrid, Spain: 7 pm
The draw can also be followed live on the following platforms:
- FIFA.com
- FIFA+
- ESPN
- Disney+