Future annual FIFA club competition

The future annual FIFA club competition is a planned annual international men's association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The first edition is scheduled to take place in 2024. The competition will feature the club champions of the six confederations of FIFA, and will be played as a knockout tournament with the European team receiving a bye to the final.[1]

This article is about the annual FIFA club competition starting in 2024. For the competition to determine the club world champions, see FIFA Club World Cup.

Future annual FIFA club competition
Organising bodyFIFA
Founded14 March 2023 (2023-03-14)
RegionInternational
Number of teams6
Related competitionsFIFA Club World Cup

Background

On 16 December 2022, the FIFA Council approved the expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup from seven to thirty-two teams beginning in 2025.[2] The 2023 tournament will therefore be the last played under the previous format. However, confederations expressed to FIFA the need for the champions of their top club competitions to still play each other annually to "stimulate competitiveness".[3] Therefore, on 14 March 2023, the FIFA Council approved a strategic concept for an annual club competition beginning in 2024. It will feature the champions of the top club competitions of the six confederations of FIFA, namely the AFC Champions League, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League and UEFA Champions League. The competition will feature a series of intercontinental play-offs between clubs from all confederations except UEFA, whose club will receive a bye to the final. The final between the winners of the play-offs and UEFA Champions League will take place at a neutral venue, with the winning club crowned champions of the competition.[4][5]

References
  1. Straus, Brian (14 March 2023). "FIFA Confirms Four-Team Groups for 2026 World Cup, New Club World Cup Qualification". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  2. "FIFA World Cup 2022 praised for its "unique cohesive power"". FIFA. 16 December 2022. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  3. "FIFA Council approves international match calendars". FIFA. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  4. Nair, Rohith (14 March 2023). "FIFA approves 2026 World Cup format with record 104 matches". Reuters. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  5. "World Cup 2026: Fifa switches back to four-team group format". BBC Sport. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.