Club WC as a real World Cup and why Chelsea, Porto and Benfica are safe, but there will be no Liverpool, Milan, maybe even Barca

From next year, the best football over the summer will not only be played by representative teams - everything that the World Cup was from 1998 to 2022 will now be reflected at the club level.

Fifa recently made a decision that 32 teams will compete for the title of world club champion from now on, and the format will be the same as it was for the World Cups from France to Qatar.

Everything starts in June and July 2025, and the teams will be divided into eight groups with four teams each, after which the two best from each group will continue the competition through the knockout phase.

As with the national teams, here too Europe got the most places (12), followed by South America (six), then Asia, Africa and together North and Central America (four each), while one place is reserved for the representative of Oceania and the host they choose United States of America.

The last four champions of Europe and South America and odds

The method of selecting participants was also interesting, so when it comes to Europe and South America, the champions of the continents from 2021 to 2024 will have the advantage, and this also means that Chelsea (champion from 2021), who is not playing in the League this season, will be at the World Cup. champion, and according to the results, he will not be in the UEFA elite even during the next one.

So from Europe, in addition to the London "blues", Real Madrid (champion 2022), Manchester City (champion 2023), as well as the clubs that earned that right thanks to the UEFA coefficient during the previous four years - Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter, Porto and Benfica.

There are still four tickets left for the teams from the Old Continent, and they will be won by the European champion from this season, as well as one club each from Spain, Germany and Italy according to the UEFA coefficient.

Arsenal only if they win the Champions League, Juve and Barca cheer against their own

As Chelsea and City are already in the World Cup through the Champions League, they have closed the door to other clubs from England to jump in through the coefficient, so the premier WC with 32 clubs will remain a dream for Liverpool, Manchester United, and possibly Arsenal. The last chance for the "gunners" is to win the Champions League this season.

Among the giants, Milan will not travel to the USA, and Juventus, Napoli and Lazio will fight for a place next to Inter from Italy. The "Old Lady" is currently in the pole position, but since it does not play in European competitions, it cannot progress further in the UEFA list, so it could be skipped by the remaining two teams that remain in the game.

Napoli need to record at least two victories by the end of the Champions League, which means that they would first have to beat Barcelona in the second leg of the round of 16, and then record another triumph in the quarterfinals.

It will be much more difficult for Lazio, because only a place in the Champions League final leads them to the World Cup.

It's the same in Spain - where Atletico Madrid has the advantage, and Barcelona has to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and "cheer" for Atletico and Sociedad to drop out, while the club from "Anoeta" has to become European champion to get a ticket to the World Cup.

In Germany, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig will fight for second place (the "millionaires" have an advantage), and it is interesting that the Austrian RB Salzburg could also go to the World Cup thanks to the Uefa coefficient and the fact that each country can send two teams. Of course, the condition is that the champions of Europe do not become Arsenal, PSV or Copenhagen.

Waiting for Boku and River

As the Copa Libertadores has been won by three different Brazilian teams during the last three seasons, the country already has three guaranteed places at the WC - for Palmeiras, Flamengo and Fluminense.

That is why the teams from Brazil will not be counted during the CONMEBOL coefficient, so the closest to filling two places according to that criterion are the giants from Argentina - Boca Juniors and River Plata. Of course, this year's continental champion will also get one place.

In any case, so far the placement in the World Cup has been secured by Vidad, Al Ahli (Africa), Al Hilal, Urava (Asia), Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter, Porto, Benfica (Europe), Monterrey, Seattle, Leon (North and Central America), Auckland City (Oceania), Palmeiras, Flamengo and Fluminense (South America).