Club World Cup 2025 – everything you need to know

For 2025, the Club World Cup enters a new era, with the tournament now being played every four years, like the traditional international World Cup, instead of annually, and 32 clubs will take to the field over the next few weeks in the USA to battle for the honour of becoming World Champions.

While FIFA’s idea has been widely criticised as a money grab, and more unnecessary fixtures in an already hectic schedule, there is no disputing that the concept is a fascinating one, with clubs from non-European nations set to get more exposure to a global audience.

Here, Sports Mole provides the lowdown on everything you need to know ahead of the month-long extravaganza in the United States.

When is the 2025 Club World Cup?

The 2025 Club World Cup will get under way on Saturday June 14, with the final taking place on Sunday July 13.

Starting on June 14, the group stage will run until June 26, before the last 16 gets rolling two days later on June 28.

Those last-16 ties will take place over four days, before the quarter-finals are played on July 4-5, and the semi-finals on June 8-9, before there are a few days rest ahead of the showpiece event.

Where will the 2025 Club World Cup be held?

The 2025 Club World Cup is taking place in the United States, and will serve as good preparation for next summer’s World Cup, which will be held in some cities that are also hosting games in this competition.

Twelve venues in 11 cities will host matches throughout the tournament, with the opener being played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, before the final is hosted at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which is also the host of the 2026 World Cup final.

There are two venues being used in Orlando, while Pasadena, Charlotte, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, Nashville, Cincinnati and Washington DC will also host fixtures at the CWC.

Where can you watch the 2025 Club World Cup

In the UK, Channel 5 have struck a deal with official rights holder DAZN to show 23 of the 63 matches free-to-air on terrestrial TV, but every match is available for free on DAZN’s streaming platform.

Fans and neutrals alike only need to sign up to DAZN for free and all of the matches will be available at no extra cost on their website, app and other platforms, making it accessible for everyone across the globe.

Who are the favourites to win the 2025 Club World Cup?

As 15-time winners of the Champions League, Real Madrid are predictably the favourites for this competition, especially as they are set to take it seriously, paying Liverpool £10m to release Trent Alexander-Arnold from his contract early, while also encouraging some players to withdraw from international duty in order to focus on the Club World Cup.

Los Blancos are priced at 4/1, while Manchester City and recent Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain are both 5/1, with Bayern Munich next in the list at 7/1.

Brazilian giants Flamengo and Palmeiras are the most-fancied non-European sides with the bookmakers, but still, they are given a slim chance, being priced at 33/1, while home favourites Inter Miami are even higher at 66/1.

Which English teams are playing at the 2025 Club World Cup?

UEFA will only send a maximum of two teams per country to the Club World Cup, in order to stop one or two leagues from representing the entire continent, so as Champions League winners within the last five years, Manchester City and Chelsea will fly the flag for England in the USA.

Liverpool just missed the window, having won the Champions League most recently in 2019, and reaching the 2022 final, but that two-nation-limit rule has denied them a place, with Red Bull Salzburg one of clubs to take advantage, by sneaking in courtesy of their coefficient score.

Man City have been drawn with Italian giants Juventus, UAE club Al Ain, and Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca, while Chelsea have a very international group ahead of them, facing recent Copa Libertadores champions Flamengo, successful Tunisian side Esperance Tunis, and LAFC from MLS, who beat Club America in a play-in to take the spot of Leon, who were kicked out of the tournament earlier this year.

How much prize money does the Club World Cup winner get?

There will be a whopping $1bn (£750m) in the prize pot for all 32 clubs to compete for, with $125m (£92m) for the winner of the 2025 Club World Cup.

All clubs are guaranteed a flat fee just for competing, which varies based on what continent you are from (Europe the highest, Oceania the lowest), while those who progress through the rounds will be granted prize money for every victory.

Reaching the final will guarantee a one-off payment of $30m (£22m), while the winners will get an additional $10m (£8m) for their victory in the showpiece event, and simply making it out of the groups will earn clubs a tidy $7.5m (£5.5m).

Has the 2025 Club World Cup been held before?

The Club World Cup has been held before, but in an entirely different format compared to the new 32-team tournament taking place this summer.

Initially starting in 2000, it became a yearly competition from 2005 onwards, purely for the champions of each confederation’s top-tier continental competition, with European and South American clubs often dominating.

Nine European clubs have won the competition previously, with the other three winners hailing from Brazil, and unsurprisingly, it is clubs from those continents that are most fancied this time around too.

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