FIFA Club World Cup 2026: Location, Missing Teams, Qualification

Club football fans are used to seeing the world’s biggest names clash in the Champions League, but a different global tournament is quietly reshaping the sport’s calendar. The FIFA Club World Cup is expanding from a seven-team affair into a 32-team competition starting in 2025, raising questions about where it’s being played and why some of Europe’s elite are missing out.

2025 FIFA Club World Cup teams: 32 ·
2025 Club World Cup host: United States ·
2026 FIFA World Cup hosts: USA, Canada, Mexico ·
2026 FIFA World Cup teams: 48 ·
Club World Cup editions to date: 20 (2000–2023)

The tournament has grown from a low-key annual meeting into a major event that now rivals the scale of the senior World Cup.

Where is the FIFA Club World Cup 2026?

As of early 2025, FIFA has not announced the host nation for the 2026 edition of the Club World Cup. The 2025 tournament is locked in: the United States will host the 32-team event from June to July 2025 at multiple venues across the country (FIFA official 2025 tournament page). Previous editions rotated among continents — Japan hosted in 2015 and 2016, Morocco in 2022 and 2023, Saudi Arabia in 2023 — so the 2026 host could shift to Asia, Africa, or Europe, depending on FIFA’s bidding process.

Will the 2026 Club World Cup be in the United States?

No confirmation exists. The USA will host both the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup (alongside Canada and Mexico), making a third consecutive major FIFA event unlikely in the same region. FIFA’s official statement on the 2026 Club World Cup simply says the host will be announced “in due course” (FIFA official 2026 tournament page).

What cities have hosted recent Club World Cups?

• 2023: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• 2022: Rabat, Morocco
• 2021: Abu Dhabi, UAE
• 2019: Doha, Qatar
• 2018: Abu Dhabi, UAE
• 2017–2016: Yokohama and Osaka, Japan

Host nations tend to come from Asia or the Middle East in recent years, with Europe hosting the 2021 edition in UAE as a neutral site due to pandemic travel restrictions. The implication: a 2026 Club World Cup host outside North America would return FIFA to its rotational tradition.

Why is Liverpool not in the Club World Cup?

Liverpool did not qualify for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup because the qualification criteria require clubs to have won a top-tier continental champions league within a specific window. The 32-team field for 2025 includes winners of the last four editions of the UEFA Champions League (2021–2024) plus additional clubs ranked by UEFA’s coefficient (FIFA official 2025 tournament page). Liverpool last won the UCL in 2019, outside the qualification window.

Why is Barcelona not in the FIFA Club World Cup?

Barcelona’s last UCL title came in 2015. Under the 2025 qualification rules, only UCL winners from 2021 onward automatically qualify. Barcelona did not win the competition in 2021 (Chelsea), 2022 (Real Madrid), 2023 (Manchester City), or 2024 (Real Madrid) (UEFA official Champions League page). They also didn’t rank high enough in UEFA’s four-year coefficient list to snag one of the additional slots.

Which other top clubs are missing from the 2025 Club World Cup?

Twenty top European clubs are missing from the 2025 field because they didn’t win the UCL in the qualifying period or accumulate sufficient coefficient points. Notable absentees include:

• Manchester United (last won UCL in 2008)
• AC Milan (last won UCL in 2007)
• Arsenal (never won the UCL in its current format)
• Bayern Munich (last won UCL in 2020, but the qualification window starts 2021)

Chelsea (2021 UCL winner) and Real Madrid (2022 and 2024 winner) are among the qualified European clubs. The catch: even historic giants can miss out when the window narrows to a four-year snapshot.

The pattern is clear: recent continental silverware, not historical prestige, earns a ticket to the expanded tournament.

How are teams selected for the Club World Cup?

The 2025 edition uses a transparent but complex formula. 32 teams qualify through a combination of continental championship winners and ranking-based allocation (FIFA official 2025 tournament page).

Qualification through UEFA Champions League

UEFA gets 12 slots: the winners of the last four UCL editions (2021–2024) plus the top eight clubs in UEFA’s four-year coefficient ranking that haven’t already qualified via winning. Manchester City qualified as 2024 UCL winners (UEFA official Champions League page). Real Madrid qualified as 2022 and 2024 winners.

Qualification through other confederations (CONMEBOL, CAF, etc.)

• CONMEBOL (South America): 6 slots — winners of the last four Copa Libertadores finals plus two coefficient picks
• CAF (Africa): 5 slots — winners of the last four CAF Champions League finals plus one coefficient pick
• AFC (Asia): 4 slots — winners of the last four AFC Champions League finals
• CONCACAF (North America, Central America, Caribbean): 4 slots — winners of the last four CONCACAF Champions Cup finals
• OFC (Oceania): 1 slot — highest-ranked club in the OFC Champions League
• Host nation: 1 slot — Inter Miami CF qualifies for the 2025 edition as the USA host club (FIFA official 2025 tournament page)

Changes to the format for the 2025 edition

The old 7-team format (one club per confederation plus host) is gone. The new 32-team structure introduces group stages, a knockout bracket, and a longer schedule. FIFA’s expansion reportedly aims to increase revenue and global reach (FIFA official 2025 tournament page).

Five confederations, one allocation pattern: South America and Europe dominate the slots, while Oceania gets just a single representative — reflecting the disparity in competitive depth across continents. The implication: fans from Asia and Africa will see more of their clubs on the global stage than ever before, but European dominance persists numerically.

Which Top Clubs Are Missing the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?

The qualification filter is brutal for non-UCL winners. Beyond Liverpool and Barcelona, these elite clubs are absent:

• Manchester United — fans often search “why is manchester united not in club world cup.” The answer: no UCL title since 2008 and insufficient coefficient ranking.
• AC Milan — last won the UCL in 2007; Italy’s champions in 2021–22 but couldn’t crack the coefficient top eight.
• Arsenal — never won the modern UCL; strong league finishes but no knockout success in the qualifying window.
• Bayern Munich — won the UCL in 2020, one year too early for the 2021–2024 window.
• Paris Saint-Germain — no UCL title ever; could qualify via coefficient but didn’t make the cut.

Chelsea (2021 winner) and Real Madrid (2022 and 2024 winner) are in. The pattern: if your club didn’t lift the UCL trophy between 2021 and 2024, or rank among Europe’s elite eight over four seasons, you’re staying home. For fans of Manchester United and AC Milan, the tournament reinforces a painful truth: legacy alone doesn’t earn a ticket to the expanded Club World Cup.

When and where is the FIFA World Cup 2026?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup — the senior international tournament — runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026 across three host nations: the United States (11 cities), Canada (2 cities), and Mexico (3 cities). It will be the first edition with 48 teams and the first hosted by three countries (FIFA official 2026 World Cup page).

Host countries: USA, Canada, Mexico

Sixteen venues spread across the three nations will host matches. The United States contributes stadiums like MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey area) and SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles). Canada brings BC Place (Vancouver) and BMO Field (Toronto). Mexico offers Estadio Azteca (Mexico City), which will host its third World Cup after 1970 and 1986.

Tournament schedule and venues

• Opening match: June 11, 2026, at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
• Final: July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• 104 matches across 48 teams

The trade-off: fans who want to attend both the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup will need to plan a multi-year travel and budget strategy — two massive football events in North America within 12 months.

What happens if Crystal Palace wins the Conference League?

Winning the UEFA Europa Conference League does not automatically qualify a club for the Club World Cup. The UECL winner earns a spot in the UEFA Europa League (or Champions League depending on domestic league placement), but only the UEFA Champions League winner qualifies for the Club World Cup (UEFA official Conference League page).

UEFA Europa Conference League winner qualification path

The UECL champion enters the UEFA Europa League group stage the following season. If they also finish high enough in their domestic league, they could access the Champions League — but that’s a separate pathway unrelated to the Club World Cup criteria.

Does winning the UECL automatically qualify for Club World Cup?

No. The Club World Cup’s UEFA slots are reserved exclusively for UCL winners and coefficient-ranked clubs. The UECL is a lower-tier competition and carries no direct Club World Cup qualification benefit. For Crystal Palace fans hoping for a global stage: winning the Conference League would bring European football but not a ticket to the 2025 or 2026 Club World Cup.

Timeline

• 2000: First FIFA Club World Cup held in Brazil.
• 2005–2022: Annual 7-team tournament format established.
• 2023: FIFA announces expansion to 32 teams starting 2025 (FIFA official 2025 tournament page).
• June 2025: 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in USA.
• June 11 – July 19, 2026: 2026 FIFA World Cup across North America (FIFA official 2026 World Cup page).

Clarity check

Confirmed facts

• 2025 Club World Cup will be in USA with 32 teams.
• 2026 FIFA World Cup hosts are USA, Canada, Mexico.
• Qualification criteria for 2025 Club World Cup are published (FIFA official 2025 tournament page).
• Manchester City qualifies as 2024 UCL winner (UEFA official Champions League page).

What’s unclear

• Host of 2026 Club World Cup has not been announced.
• Future format of Club World Cup beyond 2025 is not confirmed.

“The new FIFA Club World Cup will be a truly global tournament, bringing together the best clubs from every continent in a format worthy of the world’s game.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, via FIFA official 2025 tournament page

FIFA’s expansion of the Club World Cup marks the most significant change to the competition since its inception in 2000, with the governing body positioning the tournament as a global counterpart to the UEFA Champions League (FIFA official 2025 tournament page).

The bottom line for fans

The FIFA Club World Cup is no longer a minor footnote in the football calendar. Its expansion to 32 teams in 2025 gives more clubs a chance at global glory, but it also creates a brutal qualification filter that excludes even storied European sides like Liverpool, Barcelona, and Manchester United. For fans in the United States, the 2025 Club World Cup followed by the 2026 FIFA World Cup means two massive tournaments on home soil in 13 months. For supporters of missing clubs, the choice is clear: follow the tournament as neutrals, or watch your team’s path back to the global stage through a UCL title that may take years to achieve.