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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has announced plans by the world football's governing body to revolutionise the Club World Cup format to fit more teams
The Club World Cup is set to undergo major changes in 2025, as announced by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
As opposed to the current format, which sees a total of seven teams competing for the Club World Cup title, the new format will more than quadruple the number of teams to 32.
FIFA's unveiling of a new competition comes just days after the European Super League received a major ruling, which means they will not be able to host a new competition of their own.
New format to resemble the international World Cup
According to Infantino, the new format will see the Club World Cup resembling the current format of the FIFA (International) World Cup, played in eight groups of four instead of the current knockout format of the CWC.
Speaking to reporters, Infantino said, "The new men’s Club World Cup will take place in 2025 and will feature 32 teams. 32-team tournament will go ahead, making it like a World Cup."
The new format will mean that up to 64 new fixtures will be added to the already congested fixture list of the European calendar, which makes FIFA's stance on the ESL look hypocritical.
The change to the CWC calendar is part of FIFA's plan to increase their revenues from $7.5 billion (£6.149bn) in the current four-year cycle (2018-2022) to $11 billion (£9bn) in the next four years (2022-2026).
The increased revenue from having 32 of the best teams on the globe play in a FIFA competition will certainly go a long way toward achieving that dream.
How will teams qualify for the new Club World Cup?
It is still uncertain exactly how teams will qualify for the new Club World Cup since it was not announced by President Infantino, and it is still uncertain when the games will be scheduled in the season's calendar. However, given the motivation for the competition, it is expected that the biggest teams in Europe will have an easier route to qualification than most.
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