Although this season has been completed, the five major leagues and major European competitions have ended, the trophy belongs to the answer. According to the past, football will enter a long and boring offseason, and only the transfer news can arouse some of the enthusiasm of fans. However, this year is completely different. FIFA launched a new version of the Club World Cup on the basis of reform, which can be called the “king of the king” event in the world football. It not only attracts attention in terms of fame, but also basically arranges to the extreme in terms of participating teams, actual rewards, and competition scale. After having the “main meal” in the football world, there is a “feast” to be enjoyed, and the fans are indeed happy!
What is the Club World Cup
The Club World Cup is the Chinese translation of FIFA Club World Cup. The full name is the FIFA Club World Cup. If you are a newcomer in football and have never watched the game much, you can understand this event as the club version of the World Cup.
The first time this event was held in the early century in 2000. At first, it was intended to give the champion teams of various continents a chance to compete and then select the “champion among the champions”. However, due to sponsor issues, the event was suspended after the start of the competition and was not restarted until 2005 when Japanese companies took over. From 2005 to 2016, Japan held a total of 8 games, which slowly accumulated the reputation of the Club World Cup.
In addition to Japan, the United Arab Emirates (5th class), Morocco (3rd class), Qatar (2nd class), Saudi Arabia (1st class) and other places have also been held. It is not difficult to find through these areas that they are all rich people. Indeed, the Club World Cup has paid relatively high attention to commercial development in the past, which has led to low actual quality of the game and a very limited audience.
In this regard, FIFA launched an innovation plan. After they expanded the scale of the competition, they attracted many commercial sponsors to join.The business income level of participating teams has been greatly improved. This upgrade has indeed quickly made the Club World Cup a popular event. According to previous reports, not only did the participating teams in this Club World Cup catch up with the World Cup, but the prize pool is as much as 1 billion. Even the rich people will look at each other with admiration.
Introduction to the competition system: Is it unique or a set version of the World Cup
2025 Club World Cup in the United States the first Club World Cup after the newly reorganized. Therefore, there are great differences in competition system, preparation, and event arrangements compared to previous sessions. First, there will be 32 participating teams, which is similar to the past World Cup model, so it can be regarded as a “set version” of the traditional model. The game is held every four years, just like the World Cup, which also enhances the value of the event and the glorious attributes of the team that wins the championship.
It is reported that the winning team will receive huge reward support. In addition, there is also a qualification to embroider a new championship on the uniform with the words “World Champion” written on it. This is indeed so attractive!
Second, the game will be scheduled to start all over the United States. There are currently 12 venues announced, namely the Cincinnati TQL Stadium, the Rose Bay Stadium in Los Angeles, the Joda Park Stadium in Nashville, the Orlando Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, the Seattle Lumen Stadium in Washington, DC, Audi Stadium in Atlanta, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Charlotte, the Bank of America Stadium in Miami, the Hard Rock Stadium in Orlando, the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, and the Lincoln Financial Stadium in Philadelphia. The final will be held at the Metropolitan Life Stadium in New Jersey.
Because it is an international event that is played in the United States, the entertainment elements from the United States are bound to be indispensable. It is reported that the Club World Cup will introduce midfield shows ingeniously, and the Grammy superstars will perform on stage.
It is reported that the trophy will be designed by the well-known luxury manufacturer Tiffany, and will use 24K gold plating + engraving cuts with 211 Football Association names around the world to highlight the glory.
The competition time is from June 15th to July 14th. In order to avoid injuries, FIFA allows at least 26 players and up to 35 players per team to participate. In addition, a unique transfer window will be opened to give the club the opportunity to buy new players and improve its strength.
Third, 32 participating teams will be divided into 8 groups, with 4 teams in each group competing for 2 qualifying places and advancing to the top 16. After advancing, we will also compare with the World Cup and continue to compete according to the elimination model of the group, which means that A1 will compete with B2 and A2 will compete with B1. After that, the knockout round will be a single-game winner promotion mode, with overtime and penalty settings, and the winner will be decided in the semi-finals and finals. This is indeed almost exactly the same as the traditional World Cup game mode that people are familiar with. However, this event does not have a third place competition, only 1st and 2nd place.
It should be noted that there are only 3 substitutions per game in this Club World Cup, and a new rule that the goalkeeper will hold the ball for no more than 8 seconds will be introduced.
In addition, in terms of points arrangement, if the scores are equal, the 1-mutual record, 2-mutual record, and 3-mutual record.The number of goals scored by mutual records is a very novel design. It is estimated that FIFA wants to avoid the problem of passive slacking off.
Participated teams: the best of each continent
In terms of quota allocation, UEFA has 12 seats, South American Football Federation has 6 seats, Asia, Africa, Central and North America has 12 seats, Oceania has 1 seat, and the host has 1 seat.
The 12 European seats are listed based on the Champions League champions in the previous window (the competition is once every four years), plus the points ranking. South America is the Liberators Cup champion, plus the points ranking. Asia, Africa, and China and North America are the champions of their respective Intercontinental Cups, such as the AFC Champions League. Oceania was given to Oakland City, while host qualifications were given to Miami International.
After grouping, the respective teams of the eight groups have been placed, among which the European giants are in must be the focus of everyone’s attention. Among them, Porto entered Group A, Atletico Paris met in Group B, Bayern Benfica came to Group C, Chelsea guarded Group D, Inter Milan defended Group E alone, Dortmund was lucky to be divided into Group F, Manchester City and Juventus met in Group G, and Real Madrid Salzburg met in Group H.
The comprehensive strength is definitely weaker than Group A. Porto is considered the eldest brother in this group. Chelsea, Inter Milan and Dortmund are also good for signing and qualifying. There are two European clubs in Group B, Group C, Group G and Group H. Among them, the giants have a high probability of advancing, and there is no problem as long as they don’t lose their chains; other clubs have to try their best to get points in competition with other opponents. Brazil’s Botafogo, Argentina’s Boca Youth, and Saudi Riyadh Crescent may create difficulties for them.
The match time is not too friendly to Chinese fans. Although half of the group stages will start in the morning (6 o’clock, 9 o’clock), there is basically no such “treatment” when it comes to the knockout stage. There are 3 games in the quarterfinals and quarterfinals at 9 o’clock, and the rest are at night and early morning; the semi-finals and finals will start at 3 o’clock, which is comparable to the Champions League.
Some time is friendly and the game is worth watching. Among them, including: Monterrey vs. Inter Milan on June 18, Paris vs. Botafogo on June 20, Bayern vs. Boca Youth on June 21, 9:00 on June 23, Manchester City vs. Ain, 9:00 on June 25, Tunisia hope vs. Chelsea, 9:00 on June 26, Inter Milan vs. Riverbed, and 9:00 on June 27, Salzburg vs. Real Madrid. This is a relatively friendly competition in the group stage. You can choose to watch the game based on your actual situation.
In addition to getting rewards, this is also an opportunity for the giants who have performed poorly this season. For example, Real Madrid, Manchester City, which are all empty this season, and Bayern, who were eliminated in the Champions League, can reach the top of the Club World Cup, which can be regarded as a lot of money for this season and lay a good foundation for next season. For Inter Milan, this is also an opportunity to clear away shame. Losing to Paris in the Champions League is indeed a tragic situation.
For Paris, this is an opportunity to continue to prove itself. If they can win the Club World Cup championship trophy, then there will be a chance to strive for the six-championship this season (Champions League + local triple crowns, Club World Cup, European Super Cup). This opportunity is rare in a century, and Enrique will have motivation for this.
Huge rewards: The foundation for the active participation of the wealthy clubs
Infantino vigorously promotes the New World Club Cup, relying on the support of huge rewards, which also creates great enthusiasm for participating in the competition for the wealthy families. The total reward reaches 1 billion US dollars, which is indeed who sees whoconfused.
The reward is divided into two parts. The first part is the participation reward, that is, each team will get the share as long as they participate. This portion totaled $525 million. Among them, European clubs can get between 12.81 million and 38.19 million US dollars, 15.21 million in South America, 9.55 million in Asia, Central and North America and the Caribbean, and 3.58 million in Oceania.
This is not low, especially for Asian clubs. Just imagine that you can buy three reliable foreign players in the Asian region with US$9.55 million, which will be of great help to the club’s next introduction and development.
The second part is the reward linked to the competition results, with a total of US$475 million. Among them, you can get a reward of $2 million per win in the group stage and $1 million per draw. From the round of 16 to the semi-finals, the rewards in recent rounds have increased, starting from $7.5 million to $13.125 million, $21 million, and $30 million. The champion can get about 40 million rewards, which is indeed too tempting!
In summary, the team in the New World Club Cup can earn about US$125-200 million (if sponsors and commercial activities are added), even the lowest-ranked club has a minimum income of about 5 million, which is really rich. Just kiddingly, after the champion gets the trophy, he can quickly quote players of Mbappe, Bellingham, and Haaland. He can buy a top star with the participation reward. It’s really profitable!
(Li Pengpeng)