Why Liverpool are not playing in the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup but Chelsea will

Add as preferred source on Google

Liverpool are one of the most successful sides in Champions League history but will not play in the first 32-squad edition of the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA in 2025.

FIFA has reformatted its elite club competition for the 21st edition by expanding the number of teams competing from seven to a massive 32. The tournament had boasted seven squads from six confederations each time, apart for 2000 (8), 2005, 2006, 2020 (6) and 2001 (12).

But more sides from the six international football confederations will now get to contest the Club World Cup, with UEFA receiving the most entrants with 12. Yet Liverpool did not get an invite to the first expanded Club World Cup due to be held in America in June and July 2025.

When is the draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?

The first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup will take place from Sunday, June 15 2025 to Sunday, July 13 2025, and ties will take place in Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, Philadelphia and Washington DC. MLS side Inter Miami will play in the first fixture.

FIFA will also stage the draw for the expanded 32-team Club World Cup without Liverpool in Miami on December 5, 2024. The draw takes place at 13:00 Eastern Time (18:00 GMT), with Premier League rivals Chelsea and Manchester City placed in pots two and one respectively.

Why are Liverpool not in the expanded 32-team FIFA Club World Cup?

Chelsea and Manchester City are the only Premier League clubs to qualify for the expanded 32-team FIFA Club World Cup – with six-time Champions League winners Liverpool omitted, along with Arsenal and Manchester United, from the summer 2025 tournament in America.

Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto, Inter Milan, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and SL Benfica complete the 12 UEFA squads to qualify for the expanded FIFA Club World Cup. Liverpool even missed out on their final chance to qualify.

The 12 UEFA spots for the expanded 32-team Club World Cup were based on each team’s four-year UEFA ranking. But three of those places were taken by Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid by winning the Champions League during the four-year qualifying period.

No single country could also have more than two teams qualify for the expanded 32-squad Club World Cup without them also winning the Champions League between 2020/21 up to and including the 2023/24 campaign. Liverpool last won the Champions League in 2018/19.

So, with Chelsea and Manchester City automatically qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 owing to their more recent Champions League titles, Liverpool could not even qualify through their UEFA ranking due to competing in the Europa League in the 2023/24 season.

Liverpool avoided potential player burnout by failing to qualify for the Club World Cup

Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United did have the chance to qualify for the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup by winning the 2023/24 Champions League. But the Gunners lost 3-2 to Bayern Munich in the quarter-final. The Red Devils and Toon came last in their groups.

Yet missing out on the first expanded 32-side FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, with 63 fixtures over 28 days, may be a blessing for clubs like Liverpool. The Premier League season ends on May 25 and the 2025 Champions League final is May 31, followed by an international break.

World Cup qualifiers, or UEFA Nations League ties, await national teams between June 2 and 10, just before the Club World Cup begins on June 15. So, after failing to qualify, Liverpool’s players have avoided the extra burden before the new Premier League season on August 16.