The 2025 Club World Cup, the first of its kind, is raising a lot of uncertainty about the course of the event as the new and expanded version of the competition approaches.
Scheduled for June and July next year in the United States, the Club World Cup will be billed as the world's biggest club football competition, now on a four-yearly schedule instead of an annual one.
European giants Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich are set to clash, along with MLS clubs Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders and South American giants Palmeiras, Fluminense, River Plate and Boca Juniors.
Sporting News brings you everything we know about the draw that will determine the group stage of next summer's competition.
When will the draw for the 2025 Club World Cup be made?
The draw for the 2025 World Cup group stage will take place on Thursday, December 5, at 1:00 PM ET in Miami, Florida.
It will be held as a live studio event.
How to watch the 2025 Club World Cup draw
The 2025 Club World Cup group stage draw will be streamed live on FIFA.com and FIFA+.
It remains to be seen whether FIFA's official broadcast partner, Fox Sports, will also televise or broadcast the event, as they have a close relationship with football's governing body and are the official broadcast partner of the 2025 Club World Cup in the Americas and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
How will the 2025 Club World Cup draw work?
With 32 teams set to enter the competition - the same number the World Cup featured for decades before the 2026 expansion - it is likely that the draw procedure will resemble the old World Cup format.
The teams will then be placed into four "pots" based on their global standing.
On Tuesday 3 December, the four pots and their teams were revealed.
Pot 1: Man City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense
Pot 2: Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, FC Porto, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus
Pot 3: Al Hilal, Ulsan HD, Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Monterrey, Leon, Boca Juniors, Botafogo
Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Hope of Tunisi, Mamelodi Sundowns, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders, Auckland City, Inter Miami
From there, they will be drawn into eight groups of four, with one team from each pot in each group.
There will likely be some rules limiting the construction of groups.
First, as with the World Cup draw, likely, teams from the same continent will not be placed in the same group, except European clubs who may have two per group due to their numerical superiority.
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