After Morocco, Saudi Arabia will host the next Club World Cup 2023

Last updated Feb 15, 2023

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation announced on Tuesday 14 February that the Gulf kingdom will host the next edition of the Club World Cup in 2023.

Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said: “We are honoured and extremely excited to be given the opportunity to welcome the world’s leading football clubs and their fans to Saudi Arabia.”

الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم FIFA:

السعودية تستضيف كأس العالم للأندية 2023 🇸🇦#مونديال_الأندية_بالسعودية #Clubwc pic.twitter.com/2a2pjE87Qi

— الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم (@saudiFF) February 14, 2023

The event will be held from 12 to 22 December, but the host cities have not yet been announced.

The seven-team event will run from December 12. As with previous editions, the Champions League winners and the South American champions will only enter at the semi-final stage.

It has also been confirmed that the new-look 32-team tournament – as proposed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino on the eve of last year’s World Cup final – will start in the summer of 2025.

This is the first time Saudi Arabia has hosted the Club World Cup. Seven of the previous 19 editions have been held in Gulf countries: the United Arab Emirates (2009, 2010, 2017, 2018 and 2021) and Qatar (2019 and 2020).

The previous edition, held in Rabat and Tangiers, ended on Saturday 11 February with Real Madrid’s 5-3 victory over Al Hilal.