Newly revamped FIFA Club World Cup begins June 14th
There's something new for football fans to enjoy this summer. With the European season now finished and a lack of a men's international tournament this year (the Women's Euros is coming up though and we have a game for that which you can join here), you could be forgiven for thinking the men are set for a well-earned rest and then a rare full pre-season.
However, modern football never fails to ensure that the world's best players are made to keep playing. After spotting this gap in the calendar some time ago, FIFA decided to expand the Club World Cup and make it much more of a World Cup than ever before.
Concerns about the relentless calendar aside, there are the makings of a really interesting tournament here and we think it should make for an entertaining Predictor game on Superbru. Plenty of brand new teams feature on our platform for the first time and we're excited to see how things unfold.
Check out the groups in full below.
In a nutshell, the teams that have qualified have done so by either recently winning their confederation's top club competition (e.g. the Champions League in the case of UEFA) or by being highly ranked within their confederation over recent years.
Given the packed calendar and the fact that this tournament runs into the European pre-season, there have been question marks over whether or not giants like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City would take this Club World Cup seriously enough to make it a success. Question marks that have largely been removed by FIFA putting up total prize money of around $1 billion.
In this era where financial rules are tightening and European clubs battle with PSR/FFP regulations, maximum prize money from this tournament would be extremely helpful, so they'll be out to win.
If proof was needed regarding how motivated certain big clubs will be to win this tournament, Real Madrid paying Liverpool a reported €10,000,000 fee for Trent Alexander-Arnold rather than signing him for free about 30 days later is pretty conclusive. Madrid are undoubtedly one of the top teams to watch at this event with the Club World Cup a chance to fix what has otherwise been a trophy-less season while also serving as a very competitive 'pre-season' for new manager Xabi Alonso to get up to speed ahead of 2025-26.
For the non-European clubs, this is a long-awaited opportunity to compete with the wealthy elite on a global stage. Many of them are mid-season too, with such teams likely to enjoy an edge in terms of match fitness which could help to slightly make up for the gap in financial power.
The giant South American clubs that are involved from Brazil (Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras) and Argentina (Boca Juniors and River Plate) are expected to bring considerable support to the USA, while this is also an opportunity for football fans to learn more about a wide range of teams that they may be less familiar with such as Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, New Zealand's Auckland City, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns, Morocco's Wydad AC, and wealthy Middle Eastern sides that have become noteworthy in recent transfer windows such as Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) and Al Ain (UAE).
Expect plenty of news around Al Hilal in the buildup to this tournament, as Saudi Arabia look to make a statement at the Club World Cup. Reports suggest Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes has rejected a move to the club, but they'll no doubt secure a different marquee player instead and there are also very strong links with Simone Inzaghi becoming their new head coach having just led Internazionale to a second Champions League final in 3 seasons (he'd probably rather we didn't talk about that final against PSG, mind).
LAFC's spot has only just been confirmed as a replacement team because Club Leon, the team that was originally set to play in Group D alongside Chelsea, Esperance de Tunis and Flamengo, were kicked out for being owned by the same people as CF Pachuca. Having made that decision unnecessarily last minute, FIFA decided a play-off would be played between LAFC and Club America to determine who should take Club Leon's place; LAFC and Club America were selected due to each being a place behind Club Leon in two separate qualification pathways. LAFC won 2-1 after extra time thanks to a goal from star man Denis Bouanga.
The structure is very similar. As you can see from the groups graphic above, we have 8 groups of 4 teams with the top two in each group then progressing to a knockout Round of 16.
The Club World Cup will start and finish within a month and is set to be available for everyone to watch reasonably easily, as DAZN have said that all matches will be free-to-air globally (not an ad, just useful info!)
Since that means the Club World Cup should be nice and accessible (with the odd late night or two here and there depending on where you live), setting up a league on Superbru Football to challenge friends and family to a score prediction contest should make for great fun.
Predicting PSG vs. Atleti is the kind of task we're used to when playing the Champions League Predictor, but can you get the correct score when Palmeiras face FC Porto?
The Superbru Football app (screenshots above) is the best place to play the Predictor. An upgrade on our older platforms, Superbru Football provides news and updates, a fresh interface and live match details including subs, cards and goalscorers on top of the Superbru fundamentals such as your leaderboards and what everyone has predicted for the ongoing live game.
If you're a Superbru Premium user, Insights will also be available for this tournament.
If you're a football fan that's yet to try Premium, this tournament is perfect for seeing what it's all about with a monthly subscription because the match preview that we'll provide for each and every game should save you plenty of research time considering how niche many of the participants are.
Head to the app now to create a private league that you can then invite others to.
Enjoy the tournament and good luck!
However, modern football never fails to ensure that the world's best players are made to keep playing. After spotting this gap in the calendar some time ago, FIFA decided to expand the Club World Cup and make it much more of a World Cup than ever before.
Concerns about the relentless calendar aside, there are the makings of a really interesting tournament here and we think it should make for an entertaining Predictor game on Superbru. Plenty of brand new teams feature on our platform for the first time and we're excited to see how things unfold.
Who is in the 2025 Club World Cup?
Formerly an event between about 4 teams that took place in a quiet week in December without anybody noticing other than fans of the clubs involved, the Club World Cup will now feature 32 teams from all over the globe and take place over a full month during the European summer.Check out the groups in full below.
How did these teams qualify?
Since this is basically a new tournament, the qualification process has been complicated, somewhat random and in some cases slightly dubious (gotta get Messi involved somehow, right?), but the event undeniably has a good lineup of clubs.In a nutshell, the teams that have qualified have done so by either recently winning their confederation's top club competition (e.g. the Champions League in the case of UEFA) or by being highly ranked within their confederation over recent years.
Given the packed calendar and the fact that this tournament runs into the European pre-season, there have been question marks over whether or not giants like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City would take this Club World Cup seriously enough to make it a success. Question marks that have largely been removed by FIFA putting up total prize money of around $1 billion.
In this era where financial rules are tightening and European clubs battle with PSR/FFP regulations, maximum prize money from this tournament would be extremely helpful, so they'll be out to win.
If proof was needed regarding how motivated certain big clubs will be to win this tournament, Real Madrid paying Liverpool a reported €10,000,000 fee for Trent Alexander-Arnold rather than signing him for free about 30 days later is pretty conclusive. Madrid are undoubtedly one of the top teams to watch at this event with the Club World Cup a chance to fix what has otherwise been a trophy-less season while also serving as a very competitive 'pre-season' for new manager Xabi Alonso to get up to speed ahead of 2025-26.
For the non-European clubs, this is a long-awaited opportunity to compete with the wealthy elite on a global stage. Many of them are mid-season too, with such teams likely to enjoy an edge in terms of match fitness which could help to slightly make up for the gap in financial power.
The giant South American clubs that are involved from Brazil (Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras) and Argentina (Boca Juniors and River Plate) are expected to bring considerable support to the USA, while this is also an opportunity for football fans to learn more about a wide range of teams that they may be less familiar with such as Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, New Zealand's Auckland City, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns, Morocco's Wydad AC, and wealthy Middle Eastern sides that have become noteworthy in recent transfer windows such as Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) and Al Ain (UAE).
Expect plenty of news around Al Hilal in the buildup to this tournament, as Saudi Arabia look to make a statement at the Club World Cup. Reports suggest Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes has rejected a move to the club, but they'll no doubt secure a different marquee player instead and there are also very strong links with Simone Inzaghi becoming their new head coach having just led Internazionale to a second Champions League final in 3 seasons (he'd probably rather we didn't talk about that final against PSG, mind).
Where is it being held?
As touched upon, the tournament will be hosted by the USA. The MLS teams that will enjoy home advantage are the Seattle Sounders, Los Angeles FC (LAFC) and Inter Miami. Inter Miami are the team that is part-owned by David Beckham and that Barcelona fans will no doubt be supporting in this tournament considering their squad includes Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and, most famously, Lionel Messi.LAFC's spot has only just been confirmed as a replacement team because Club Leon, the team that was originally set to play in Group D alongside Chelsea, Esperance de Tunis and Flamengo, were kicked out for being owned by the same people as CF Pachuca. Having made that decision unnecessarily last minute, FIFA decided a play-off would be played between LAFC and Club America to determine who should take Club Leon's place; LAFC and Club America were selected due to each being a place behind Club Leon in two separate qualification pathways. LAFC won 2-1 after extra time thanks to a goal from star man Denis Bouanga.
Our Predictor game
Usually, major International tournaments such as the World Cup, Euros or Copa America make for perfect Predictor games on Superbru at this time of year and we're hopeful that this new club equivalent can be equally good fun.The structure is very similar. As you can see from the groups graphic above, we have 8 groups of 4 teams with the top two in each group then progressing to a knockout Round of 16.
The Club World Cup will start and finish within a month and is set to be available for everyone to watch reasonably easily, as DAZN have said that all matches will be free-to-air globally (not an ad, just useful info!)
Since that means the Club World Cup should be nice and accessible (with the odd late night or two here and there depending on where you live), setting up a league on Superbru Football to challenge friends and family to a score prediction contest should make for great fun.
Predicting PSG vs. Atleti is the kind of task we're used to when playing the Champions League Predictor, but can you get the correct score when Palmeiras face FC Porto?
The Superbru Football app (screenshots above) is the best place to play the Predictor. An upgrade on our older platforms, Superbru Football provides news and updates, a fresh interface and live match details including subs, cards and goalscorers on top of the Superbru fundamentals such as your leaderboards and what everyone has predicted for the ongoing live game.
If you're a Superbru Premium user, Insights will also be available for this tournament.
If you're a football fan that's yet to try Premium, this tournament is perfect for seeing what it's all about with a monthly subscription because the match preview that we'll provide for each and every game should save you plenty of research time considering how niche many of the participants are.
Head to the app now to create a private league that you can then invite others to.
Enjoy the tournament and good luck!
Superbru on X
Knowing that now I can now understand the odds in their first game against Bayern Munich of 35 to 1 ! 5 Jun 21:39