Chelsea have confirmed their participation in the new-look 2025 Club World Cup after a FIFA council meeting on Tuesday.
As previously reported by journalist Tom Roddy, Chelsea are set to be handed an automatic entry to the upcoming Club World Cup.
Chelsea have now released an official statement.
“Following a FIFA Council meeting today in which several key decisions were made on the future of global men’s and women’s competitions, a new format was confirmed for the FIFA Club World Cup,” the statement said.
“The tournament, which Chelsea won in its current format last season, will from June 2025 be played every four years and will be for 32 teams.
“Europe has 12 of those places, with four of them for Champions League winners in each of the four years leading up to 2025, which includes Chelsea as the 2021 winners.
“Additional teams will be determined by a club ranking based on the same four-year period.”
Without a doubt, the fans will have different views on the new format.
This arguably makes the tournament, which until now only involves seven teams, more competitive and interesting to watch.
On the other hand, this also adds more games to the already congested fixture schedule for the participants during the tournament season.
The tournament’s new format makes is similar to the recent World Cup, which interestingly will also be expanded to 48 teams starting in 2026.
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