The Club World Cup 2025, the first of its kind, is causing a lot of uncertainty about the course of the event as the new and expanded version of the competition approaches.
The Club World Cup, which takes place in June and July next year in the United States, will be billed as the world's biggest club football competition, with the schedule now quadrennial rather than annual.
European giants Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich will be there, as well as MLS clubs Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders, and South American giants Palmeiras, Fluminense, River Plate and Boca Juniors.
The 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?
The draw for the group stage of the 2025 Club World Cup will take place on Thursday, December 5 at 1:00 PM ET in Miami, FL.
It will be held as a live studio event.
How to watch the 2025 Club World Cup draw
The draw for the group stage of the 2025 Club World Cup will be broadcast live on FIFA.com and FIFA+.
It remains to be seen whether FIFA’s official broadcast partner, Fox Sports, will also broadcast the event, as they have a close relationship with soccer’s governing body and are the official U.S. broadcast partner for the 2025 FIFA World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
How will the draw for the 2025 Club World Cup be conducted?
Although FIFA has yet to release a full breakdown of the draw procedures, it is safe to assume that the draw for the 2025 World Cup will closely or exactly resemble the old FIFA draw format.
With 32 teams in the competition - the same number the World Cup had for decades before the 2026 expansion - it is likely that the draw procedure will resemble the old World Cup format.
The teams will be placed in four "pots" based on their global position. While the nations at the World Cup have been easily divided into four pots based on FIFA rankings, it is still unclear how FIFA will divide the clubs into different pots.
From there, they will be divided into eight groups of four, with one team from each pot in each group. It is likely that some rules limit the formation of groups.
First of all, as with the World Cup draw, likely, teams from the same continent cannot be placed in the same group, except European clubs who can have two per group due to their numerical superiority.
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