By The Independent (Sports) | Created at 2024-12-05 17:18:26 | Updated at 2024-12-26 01:17:11
2 weeks ago
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Chelsea and Man City lead English interest in next year’s Club World Cup to fill the void next summer despite no European Championship or World Cup. Fifa has found yet another way to shoehorn more fixtures into the calendar and keep squads busy during the off-season.
The expanded Fifa Club World Cup will take place, hosted in Miami and with no fewer than 32 teams taking part across almost a month of action - something several players have already spoken out against in an increasingly congested line of work. Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola’s side represent the Premier League, having recently lifted Champions League titles in the Uefa zone, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the other European sides involved. From around the rest of the world, the likes of Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan, Mexico’s Monterrey and Brazilian quartet Flamengo, Fluminense, Palmeiras and Botafogo are all competing - as are the big two from Argentina.
The draw for the group stage takes place on Thursday and clubs will find out their first three opponents, with eight groups leading the top two in each to go to the round of 16 and beyond in the knockout stage. Follow the buildup and Club World Cup main draw in our live blog below:
Fifa finally agree massive $1bn broadcast deal for Club World Cup - one day before draw takes place
Streaming platform DAZN has agreed a worldwide deal to broadcast Fifa’s controversial Club World Cup free to air.
Club sources have previously expressed frustration and concern at Fifa’s failure to sell rights until now for next summer’s tournament in the United States, which has been the catalyst for legal actions against football’s world governing body from player unions and domestic leagues over its scheduling.
Reports in recent months have suggested Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) could purchase a one billion US dollar (£787.6m) stake in DAZN. The platform has done deals within the last year to screen the Saudi Pro League in some European territories, including the UK, as well as for the Riyadh Season boxing bouts and the Six Kings Slam tennis event in the Middle East kingdom.
Separately, Reuters cited reports saying the deal was worth $1bn and that it was only for this edition of the revamped tournament.
Jack Rathborn5 December 2024 17:05
Fifa Club World Cup draw - live
Let’s have a full rundown of all the teams involved then:
Uefa
Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Dortmund, Inter Milan, Benfica, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Red Bull Salzburg
Conmebol
Flamengo, Palmeiras, Fluminense, Botafogo, River Plate, Boca Juniors
Caf
Ah Ahly, Wydad AC, Esperance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns
Afc
Al Hilal, Ulsan HD, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain
Concacaf
Monterrey, Leon, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders, Inter Miami
Ofc
Auckland City
Karl Matchett5 December 2024 16:55
Fifa Club World Cup draw - live
So we have 32 clubs, two of which are from the Premier League.
Manchester City and Chelsea both have bigger things to think about this week - midweek action where they both won, then big games immediately coming up at the weekend - but they are the representatives this summer who face a month of competitive action after the 2024/25 finishes.
Such is the price of success - they’re in as a result of winning the Champions League recently.
Jack Rathborn5 December 2024 16:45
Fifa Club World Cup draw - live
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Club World Cup. Like the competition itself, we’ve expanded significantly: from merely covering the final to bringing you the draw in its entirety, as Fifa have decided 32 clubs need to be involved and the competition needs to last a month.
So here we are, six months and more before it starts, with pomp and ceremony and all the heart-stopping anticipation of whether your favourite former continental champions will be playing Porto, Ulsan or Al-Hilal.
Karl Matchett5 December 2024 16:22
