FIFA : Morocco to host Club World Cup in Feburary

The next Club World Cup will be held in Morocco in February, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed on Friday, and the competition’s expanded version will now begin in 2025.

According to Infantino, the tournament will return to Morocco for the third time in 2023 and run from February 1 to February 11, as announced during a news conference in Doha.

The expansion of the Club World Cup has long been Infantino’s cherished ambition. Eight teams from Europe were scheduled to compete in a 24-team tournament that was scheduled to take place in China in 2021 but was postponed owing to the coronavirus epidemic.

Infantino said that the redesigned competition will now begin in 2025 and include 32 teams.

“We had agreed a few years ago to have a new 24-team men’s Club World Cup. It should have taken place in 2021 but was postponed because of Covid,” the FIFA president said.

“The new competition will take place in 2025 and will feature 32 teams, making it really like a World Cup,” he added, without offering further details

The Club World Cup was first staged in Morocco in 2013 and then again in 2014. The most recent tournament, which Chelsea won, was held in the United Arab Emirates in February.

For the time being, the competition will continue in its current format, with the best team from the host country competing with the champions of the six continental federations.

Real Madrid will represent Europe after winning the UEFA Champions League last year. Real Madrid won the 2014 Club World Cup in Morocco.

The other current continental champions are Auckland City of New Zealand, Seattle Sounders of the United States, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Flamengo of Brazil, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.