FIFA Club World Cup

Lore & Background

The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000, running in parallel with the Intercontinental Cup. In 2005, the Intercontinental Cup was merged with the FIFA Club World Championship, and in 2006 the tournament was renamed the FIFA Club World Cup. Real Madrid hold the record for most titles, having won five times. Teams from Spain have won the tournament eight times, the most for any nation. England has the largest number of winning teams, with four clubs having won the tournament.

In Their Own Story

The air in Tokyo was thick with humidity, but inside the stadium, the atmosphere crackled with electric anticipation. The River Plate players stood firm, proud of their South American heritage, but they were about to witness a different kind of football. As the referee blew the whistle, the familiar blue and red stripes seemed to blur into a single fluid motion. Xavi received the ball, his eyes scanning the horizon, finding Messi in a pocket of space that shouldn't have existed. The pass was weightless, the control absolute. Within seconds, the ball found Neymar's foot, and the net rippled. It wasn't just a goal; it was a statement written in grass and sweat, echoing from La Masia to the farthest corners of the globe.

Reader's Guide

The current format, which came into effect with the 2025 edition, features 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation: 12 teams from Europe, 6 from South America, 4 from Africa, 4 from Asia, 4 from North, Central America and Caribbean, 1 from Oceania, and 1 team from the host nation. All non-host teams qualify through results in their confederation's top club competition. The teams are drawn into eight groups of four, with each team playing three group stage matches in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, starting with the round of 16 and culminating with the final.

Did You Know?

• The first club tournament billed as the Football World Championship was held in 1887, with FA Cup winners Aston Villa beating Scottish Cup winners Hibernian.
• The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, held in Italy in 1909 and 1911, was the first attempt at a global club football tournament according to FIFA.
• Palmeiras beat Juventus in the 1951 Copa Rio final at Maracanã with over 200,000 spectators and were hailed as the first ever Club World Champions by the Brazilian press.
• Real Madrid won the first Intercontinental Cup in 1960, but FIFA objected to them claiming the title of world champions.