Manchester City 's Champions League triumph means six-time Euro kings Liverpool will miss the proposed inaugural 32-team Club World Cup.
City have secured a place in FIFA’s new money-spinning tournament, scheduled to kick-off in the summer of 2025, after beating Inter Milan in Istanbul last week. And with prize money expected to be in the region of £150 million, the Blues would get the chance to add significantly to the staggering £294 million they have banked for winning a Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble.
Chelsea, European champions in 2021, and 2022 winners Real Madrid have also qualified. Manchester United, Arsenal or Newcastle could add to the Premier League contingent by lifting the Champions League next season.
But Liverpool ’s failure to finish in the top four means they will miss out on the prestige of competing with the world’s elite clubs in what will be a landmark event. FIFA have drawn up plans that award qualifying places to the four Champions League winners from 2021-2024.
Eight more slots will be handed to European clubs by virtue of their UEFA coefficient. But places in the tournament will be limited to just two per country - unless a nation is able to boast three different Champions League winners in the previous four years.
It means stellar names like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, PSG, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund can still qualify through the back door by either winning the Champions League next season or boosting their coefficient by reaching the latter stages.
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Liverpool currently lie fourth in the UEFA rankings - but will be competing in the Europa League next season after finishing fifth in the Premier League. FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced plans for the expansion of the Club World Cup in January.
The current format sees seven teams from six confederations around the world compete in an annual knock-out tournament. City will travel to Saudi Arabia in December hoping to add a world title to their historic treble.
The revamped tournament would be staged every four years. But there has been opposition to FIFA’s proposal. Some members of UEFA and the influential European Clubs Association view it as an attack on the status of the Champions League as the world’s most prestigious club competition.
The ECA, which represents 220 of Europe’s most powerful clubs, refused to sign a memorandum of understanding when Infantino met with them during the World Cup in Qatar. The Premier League are also believed to have raised concerns about the tournament, while La Liga have threatened legal action to block it.
But the cash on offer is expected to ease many reservations after Real Madrid were handed just £4 million for winning the last Club World Cup in February. FIFA have also redrawn a schedule for the tournament to ease fears voiced by the players’ union FIFPRO that the increasing demands on their members will lead to injuries, fatigue and burn-out.
The initial idea was for the tournament to be staged in its entirety in the United States in the summer of 2025. It was seen as the perfect test event for a country that will host the World Cup the following summer along with Canada and Mexico.
An alternative plan would see eight groups of four teams compete in the summer of 2025 with the top two in each qualifying for the ‘finals.’ A straight knock-out tournament would then be played before the start of the 2026-27 season.
As well as 12 European teams, the tournament would include six teams from CONMEBOL, including four Copa Libertadores winners, four CONCACAF Champions League winners, four CAF Champions League winners, the highest ranked club of four Champions League winners from OFC and one club from the host country.
