The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is here as teams from across the world compete in the new-look tournament, but Liverpool won't be in attendance even after winning the Premier League in Arne Slot's first season.
FIFA has reinvented the Club World Cup with the new format debuting this summer. Thirty-two teams from across the world will compete in a two-stage tournament consisting of eight groups of four and a four round knockout bracket.
Teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and more will battle it out in the financially lucrative tournament. Though, the recently crowned champions in England won't be there. Something England manager Thomas Tuchel thinks could aid Liverpool next season looking to repeat as champions.
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FIFA instituted a two-team-per-nation rule for the new Club World Cup, meaning just Chelsea and Manchester City will represent England and the Premier League this summer.
How did those two teams qualify over Liverpool? The European clubs qualified based on their performances in the Champions League across the past four seasons. Winners of the tournament automatically qualified, so Chelsea and Manchester City earned their spots by lifting the trophy since the turn of the decade.
If Liverpool had beaten Real Madrid the second time around in the 2021–22 campaign, the Reds would be in the tournament over Chelsea since Manchester City's win was more recent. Instead, Real Madrid qualified by winning two Champions Leagues this decade and Atlético Madrid ends up earning the other spot through their UEFA ranking.
Only one team did not qualify through winning a continental competition or through ranking: Inter Miami. Lionel Messi's team qualified for the tournament as the host nation's (USA) representative. The Columbus Crew—the reigning MLS champions at the time—was passed over. Though, Miami were last season's Supporters' Shield winners setting a record for most points in a Major League Soccer season.
The tournament gets underway Saturday, June 14 with Inter Miami taking on Egypt's Al Ahly.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Liverpool Missed Out on a 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Spot.
