The group draw for the Club World Cup, which will feature some matches played in Atlanta, is scheduled for Thursday in Miami.
The Club World Cup will feature 32 teams from the FIFA’s six federations: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The tournament is scheduled to be played scheduled from June 15-July 13. The tournament format will be eight groups of four. The top two teams will advance to the group of 16 with a single-match knockout from there to through the championship.
Atlanta will host at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The site schedules are supposed to be announced by Friday, according to FIFA.
Other sites and stadiums are: Pasadena, California, and the Rose Bowl; Nashville, Tennessee, and GEODIS Park; Charlotte, North Carolina, and Bank of America Stadium; Cincinnati and TQL Stadium; Orlando, Florida, and Inter & Co Stadium and Camping World Stadium; Miami and Hard Rock Stadium; Philadelphia and Lincoln Financial Field; Seattle and Lumen Field; and Washington, D.C., and Audi Field. The championship will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The 2025 edition will include 12 teams from Europe, six from South America, four each from Asia, Africa and North America, one from Oceania and one more from the host nation.
The teams are Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors, Borussia Dortmund, Monterrey, Pachuca, Chelsea, Porto, Flamengo, Fluminense, Juventus, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, River Plate and Seattle.
The pots are divided by FIFA’s ranking.
Pot 1 consists of the four highest-ranked teams from Europe with the four highest-ranked teams from South America. Pot 2 consists of the remaining eight teams from Europe. Pot 3 is composed of the two highest-ranked teams respectively from Asia, Africa, and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, with South America’s two remaining clubs. Pot 4 is composed of the two remaining teams respectively from Asia, Africa, and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, with Oceania’s representative and the team representing the host country, Inter Miami.
Pot 1: Manchester City (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Flamengo (Brazil), Palmeiras (Brazil), River Plate (Argentina), Fluminense (Brazil).
Pot 2: Chelsea (England), Borussia Dortmund (Germany, Inter Milan (Italy), Porto (Portugal), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Benfica (Portugal), Juventus (Italy), Red Bulls Salzburg (Austria).
Pot 3: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Ulsan HD (South Korea), Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad (Morocco), Monterrey (Mexico), Club León (Mexico), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Botafogo (Brazil).
Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Al Ain (United Arab Emirates), Espérance Sportive (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Pachuca (Mexico), Seattle (U.S.), Auckland City (New Zealand), Inter Miami (U.S.).
During the draw, no more than one team from the same confederation can be put into a four-team group. The only exception is UEFA, or Europe, because it has 12 teams in the tournament.
The Club World Cup is considered a logistic soft run for host sites for the World Cup. Atlanta is scheduled to host eight matches in the tournament in 2026.
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