Semi 1 winner vs. Semi 2 winner FIFA Club World Cup expansion On December 16, 2022 FIFA announced the launch of an expanded 32-team Club World Cup set to begin in June 2025 and held during the summer every four years, similar to the World Cup for national teams. It's still unclear how the 32 spots will be allocated to each region and what the qualifying criteria will be.
First Round African runners-up Al Ahly (Egypt) handily beat Oceania champion Auckland City (New Zealand) and the Egyptian side will advance to the Second Round to play the Seattle Sounders. Al Ahly 3-0 Auckland City Highlights Second Round Asian champions Al Hilal, African champions Wydad Casablanca, and North American champions Seattle Sounders join first-round winner Al Ahly to determine which two teams advance to the semifinals.
That could explain why the USA is reportedly a potential host for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, one year prior to the 2026 men's FIFA World Cup. FIFA Club World Cup champions all-time Between 1960 and 2004 the club champions of Europe and South America faced off in a single-match showdown for the Intercontinental Cup, widely accepted as crowning the best club team in the world. Of those 43 editions held, a European side won 21 times and South American clubs were champions on 22 occasions.
FIFA Club World Cup 2023 fixtures schedule, teams and format as next champion is crowned in MoroccoThe FIFA Club World Cup is set to be played February 1-11 in Morocco with seven club teams battling for the title of world champions. The seven clubs include the defending champions of every region of the world, and an additional spot reserved for the host country. But the latter berth had to be reassigned after Moroccan champion Wydad Casablanca also became African champions. The 2023 tournament draw was held on Friday, January 13 (streamed on FIFA+) as the seven clubs found out their path to the world title.
The list features the club champions of six continents, plus an additional spot reserved for the host nation's champion that instead was reassigned. Since Moroccan champions Wydad Casablanca also won the African Champions League, thus automatically qualifying to the FIFA Club World Cup as African champions, their berth as host nation was passed on to the African Champions League runners-up Al Ahly of Egypt.
Only seven knockout matches are played to determine the world champion to succeed 2022 winners Chelsea. If there's a draw after regulation in any of the matches, extra time and penalties (if necessary) will be used to determine a winner except for the third-place match, which will skip extra time and go straight to penalties.
But FIFA president Gianni Infantino did make it clear that the intention is that "they will be the best teams in the world". Original plans for expansion of the tournament had called for a 24-team Club World Cup to be played in 2021, but that tournament never got off the ground due to scheduling conflicts and fixture congestion resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The new expanded tournament is set to replace the FIFA Confederations Cup, which in the past served as a test run for the men's World Cup host country the year before the tournament.
Wydad Casablanca - Al Hilal Riyadh - Sporticos
2023 FIFA Club World Cup match schedule Date Round Match Wed, Feb. 1 1st Rd Al Ahly 3-0 Auckland City Sat, Feb. 4 2nd Rd Seattle Sounders vs. Al Ahly Wydad Casablanca vs. Al Hilal Tue, Feb. 7 Semi Flamengo vs. Wydad/Al Hilal Wed, Feb. 8 Seattle/Al Ahly vs. Real Madrid Sat, Feb. 11 3rd Place Semifinal 1 loser vs. Semifinal 2 loser Final Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner MORE: Chelsea capture 2022 FIFA Club World Cup on late penalty Teams in 2023 FIFA Club World Cup There are seven clubs that are participating in the 2023 tournament.
TopStar - CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Mamelodi Sundowns vs
Time (GMT / ET) Wydad Casablanca vs. Al Hilal 14:30 / 09:30 Seattle Sounders vs. Al Ahly 17:30 / 12:30 Semifinals The two favorites enter the competition at this stage. Winners of the Second Round match between Wydad and Al Hilal will face Flamengo (South America champions), and Real Madrid (European champions) will meet Seattle, Al Ahly, or Auckland. Semifinal 19:00 / 14:00 3rd Place Match The two semifinal losers play for third place and a spot on the podium. Semi 1 loser vs. Semi 2 loser 15:30 / 10:30 The semifinal winners will have the opportunity to play for the FIFA Club World Cup trophy on Saturday, February 11 with Real Madrid and Flamengo the favorites to face off for the title.
FIFA CWC Preview: Wydad AC (MAR) vs. Al-Hilal (KSA)
