Inter Miami will kick off the 2025 Club World Cup against Egypt’s Al Ahly at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on June 15 while Manchester City will play Juventus after being drawn together in the same group for FIFA’s new competition.
Real Madrid will come up against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, who currently have several European stars in their squad, including former Barcelona forward Neymar.
Chelsea were drawn with Flamengo, Esperance de Tunis and Leon while Bayern Munich will face Benfica, Boca Juniors and Auckland City.
The new 32-team competition will be held in the U.S. in June and July 2025, with the majority of games taking place on the east coast while the Gold Cup takes place primarily on the west coast. Both competitions come ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Many of the world’s top teams will be absent because of the qualification regulations and limit of two sides per country, while the inclusion of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami has caused controversy.
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Club World Cup: Inter to Chelsea to Auckland City, all 32 teams at 2025 tournament profiled
Qualification is based on either a ranking by performances over a four-year period or by winning continental titles between 2021 and 2024.
In previous Club World Cups, the hosts would get a spot for their national champions. Though Miami won the Supporters’ Shield for topping the regular-season table, they lost in the MLS Cup playoffs, the winners of which are considered the champions of the U.S. FIFA’s decision to award the U.S. spot to Miami came after they had won the Supporters’ Shield but before their playoff elimination by Atlanta United.
The draw was held in Miami where FIFA president Gianni Infantino also presented the new trophy, which has his name engraved on it. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump also spoke about looking forward to the tournament.
Infantino presents the new trophy alongside former Brazil forward Ronaldo (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
The final will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 13. Having initially struggled to sell broadcast rights to the event, FIFA announced this week that all 63 matches will be shown for free on DAZN.
Club World Cup groups in full
Group A: Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica
Group D: Flamengo, Esperance de Tunis, Chelsea, Club Leon
Group E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey, Inter Milan
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD, Mamelodi Sundowns
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad AC, Al Ain, Juventus
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Red Bull Salzburg
What is the Club World Cup format?
Previous Club World Cups featured only seven teams, the winner of six continental competitions plus the host nation’s league champions.
This new format mirrors the World Cup, with 32 teams split into eight groups. The four teams in each group play each other before the top two in each group go through to one-tie knockout rounds, from a round of 16, through quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.
The old format will remain under a different name, the Intercontinental Cup, which will take place for the first time this year in Qatar, with the play-off on December 14 and the final on December 18.
Which cities will host Club World Cup matches?
There are 12 venues being used across 11 cities:
- MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.)
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
- Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)
- TQL Stadium (Cincinnati)
- Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles)
- Hard Rock Stadium (Miami)
- GEODIS Park (Nashville)
- Camping World Stadium (Orlando)
- Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando)
- Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
- Lumen Field (Seattle)
- Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
(Top photo: GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
