- The Club World Cup will feature a new format including a group-stage
- Manchester City handed tough group including Borussia Dortmund
- Tournament draw set to take place on Thursday, December 5th
The Club World Cup will take on a new format when it kicks off in the summer of 2025.
It is not an unfamiliar format as Champions League fans will be familiar with the concept of 32 teams being split into eight groups of four.
The key difference here is that the teams will only play each other once with the top-two going through from each group.
From there it is a straight knockout competition with extra-time and penalties used to determine who progresses to the final.
For the group stage draw, teams are separated into pots based on their confederation rankings and georgraphical locations taken into account.
From there, one team from each pot will be selected to fill each group, with no two teams from the same nation, or confederation – UEFA aside, who have 12 teams – selected in the same group.
The new FIFA Club World Cup trophy to be handed out to the winners of the tournament in 2025
Manchester City will find themselves in pot one and will take on Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo in the simulation
Chelsea were handed Bayern Munich and Inter Miami as they are in pot two of the Club World Cup draw
There is one more caveat added into the draw for the Club World Cup – Inter Miami will be the fourth team in Group A, as they will play the opening game of the tournament and Seattle Sounders will be the fourth team in Group B so that they will play in their home stadium.
A simulation of the draw with the conditions set out by FIFA themselves has thrown up some fantastic ties for the group stage.
In the simulation, Chelsea found themselves in Group A, along with German giants Bayern Munich, Al Hilal to reunite with former defender Kalidou Koulibaly and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
Since Harry Kane’s arrival in Munich, Bayern have failed to pick up any silverware and were knocked out of the German Cup by last season’s Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.
They do sit four points clear of second placed Eintracht Frankfurt in the league though with Kane having another impressive individual campaign.
Meanwhile Manchester City were drawn in Group H alongside FC Porto, Brazilian league champions Botafogo and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.
Botafogo won their first Copa Libertadores by beating Atletico Mineiro and are on course to claim a Brazilian league title
FC Porto currently find themselves three poitns adrift of top spot in the Portuguese top flight.
Meanwhile, Botafogo made history when they beat Atletico Mineiro to win their first ever Copa Libertadores.
Bayern Munich were drawn against Chelsea in the simulation, the German side still searching for silverware since Harry Kane’s arrival
Their win made even more impressive by overcoming a red card inside two minutes after Gregore was sent off for a high kick on Fausto Vera.
In Group B there was plenty of intrigue as French side Paris Saint-Germain would meet with last season’s Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.
As for Champions League holders Real Madrid, they received somewhat of a favourable draw as they would take on Benfica, Al Ahly and Urawa Red Diamonds.
Among the other notable names are Inter Milan who have been drawn in Group C with Brazilian side Flamengo, Atletico Madrid who have been drawn alongside Palmeiras and Monterrey as well as Juventus who will take on River Plate in Group F.
