The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) announced on Friday that the United States has been awarded the right to host the first edition of the 2025 edition of the expanded Club World Cup to include 32 teams.
“The host selection process took into account infrastructure and services needs and the broader strategic goals of the competition,” the international body’s statement said, adding that the United States will host 2026 along with Canada and Mexico. World Cup with 48 teams instead of 32 teams.
FIFA made the decision “unanimously” during a meeting held via video calling technology from its headquarters in Zurich.
“This decision is based on the position that the United States is a perennial leader in organizing global events, and will allow FIFA to coordinate ahead of the 2026 World Cup, the two tournaments, and the American region to support the development of soccer in the North,” he added.
FIFA added that it will announce the dates, venues and match schedule at a later date.
For his part, Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino, president of the international federation, said, “The Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite football at the level of professional clubs for men, and will have the largest local facility with the necessary infrastructure. Interestingly, the United States is the ideal host to launch this global tournament.” New”.
Last December, FIFA approved increasing the number of clubs participating in the Club World Cup to 32 from the 2025 edition, and announced earlier this year how they would be distributed according to continents.
The European Union has the largest number with 12 clubs, four each from the Asian and African confederations and CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean Islands), and six from CONMEBOL (the confederation of South America), the place for the Oceania confederation. In addition to one club from the host country.
Saudi Arabia will host the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup for the first time later this year under the current system, with seven clubs participating.
In other context, FIFA announced that the 2030 World Cup will be “postponed the official release of the file submission process” until its next meeting until September or October 2023, and the announcement of the host name is “postponed from Division Three in 2023 to Division Four in 2024.”
The 2030 World Cup coincides with the centenary of the first edition of the world finals, and Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay submitted their joint candidacy to organize it, in addition to a second file uniting Spain, Portugal and Morocco. .