The United States of America expands the headquarters of the Club World Cup – Sports

Ansamed – Zurich, June 23 – FIFA confirmed today that the United States will host the first edition of the Club World Cup with 32 participants in 2025.
The entity explained in a statement that “the process of selecting the country organizing the tournament took into account infrastructure and service requirements, in addition to other broader strategic goals.”
The decision was adopted during the virtual council held by FIFA, which thus awarded the venue for the Club World Cup to one of the countries that, a year later, will host the World Cup for national teams alongside Mexico and Canada.
The World Cup, which will also include a larger number of participants, as out of the current 32 teams hosting it, in the next edition there will be 48 teams competing in it.
In that tournament, Argentina will defend its title, which it won in Qatar 2022, and many are betting that star Lionel Messi, Inter Miami's new addition to the American Football League, will compete for it, despite his own admission of this. It would be almost impossible because he would be 39 years old.
Messi will play in the 2024 Copa America, which will also be held in the United States, in which the “Albiceleste” coached by Lionel Scaloni will defend the title it won in 2021 by defeating host Brazil in the final at the Maracana Stadium.
Regarding the Club World Cup, “the United States has been unanimously chosen as the organizer of the 2025 edition,” FIFA explained when announcing its decision.
The next edition of the tournament, which replaced the historic Intercontinental Cup hosted by the Champions League and Copa Libertadores champions since 1960, will be held in its current format this year.
It will be the twentieth edition and will be held from December 12 to 22 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the presence of Manchester City, the new champion of the Champions League, and the participation of Mexican club Leon, Japan’s Urawa Diamonds, and Al-Masry. -Al-Ahly, New Zealand's Auckland City, and its host, Al-Ittihad, champion of the Saudi Professional League, leaving the Libertadores champion to be determined.
The first Club World Cup was held in Brazil in 2000, and after its cessation it resumed in 2005 with the participation of the champions of South America and Europe, as well as those from Asia, Africa, Oceania and CONCACAF, in addition to a representative of the organization. nation.
The tournament's first champion was Brazilian Corinthians, who defeated compatriot Vasco da Gama in the final and were succeeded five years later by also Brazilian São Paulo, who already had a format more similar to the current one in that competition.
Milan (2007), Manchester United (2008), Barcelona (2009, 2011 and 2015), Inter (2010), Corinthians (2012), Bayern Munich (2013 and 2020), and Liverpool also claimed the throne of the Club World Cup. 2019), Chelsea (2021), and Real Madrid, the most successful with five titles (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022).
The venue also changed because after that initial edition in Brazil, the competition moved to Japan for four seasons, which would host it again on four more occasions, while it was hosted by the United Arab Emirates on five occasions, Morocco on three occasions, and Qatar on others. two.
With the expanded system, Europe will have 12 representatives, South America six, CONCACAF, Africa and Asia four, and Oceania one, and will have to be added to the host country's team.
After confirming the venue for the 2025 Club World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino predicted that “fans from all continents will bring their passion and energy to the United States within two years.”
Infantino stressed that through this initiative to increase the number of participants, the goal of “making football truly global” will be improved.
FIFA also confirmed that Indonesia will host the U-17 World Cup this year (from November 10 to December 2), after it was replaced as organizer of the U-20 World Cup, which lost to Argentina and was declared champion by Uruguay.
The entity reported that Indonesia would replace Peru, which had not complied with commitments made regarding infrastructure, and also designated Colombia to host the U-20 Women's World Cup next year and the Dominican Republic to host the U-17 World Cup. Also in that category in 2024.
Regarding the 2030 Men's World Cup, for which Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile jointly bid, FIFA decided to postpone the bidding process starting with the Council, which will be held in September and the winner will be announced at the end of 2024. (ANSA)