2021 FIFA Club World Cup


The 2021 FIFA Club World Cup is scheduled to be the 18th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament contested by clubs from the six continental confederations. The tournament will be the first under a new expanded format which features 24 teams, and will take place in China.
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 17 June to 4 July 2021. However, FIFA will postpone the tournament to later in 2021, 2022 or 2023, as a result of the rescheduling of the UEFA European Championship and Copa América, which were postponed from mid-2020 to mid-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

As early as late 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested an initial expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and to be rescheduled to June/July to be more balanced and more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors. In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years by 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup.
On 15 March 2019, the new format and schedule of Club World Cup was confirmed at the FIFA Council meeting in Miami, Florida, United States. Following the international window from 31 May to 8 June 2021, the tournament was scheduled take place from 17 June to 4 July, replacing the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup. The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup would then be allotted a window from 5 to 31 July 2021 in the FIFA International Match Calendar.
However, the European Club Association is opposed to the decision, proposing that European clubs boycott the new competition.

Host appointment

For the pilot edition of the expanded Club World Cup format, FIFA announced on 3 June 2019 that they would analyse and proactively approach potential hosts. China were unanimously chosen as the hosts of the tournament by the FIFA Council at their meeting in Shanghai, China on 24 October 2019.

Slot allocation

The slot allocation was confirmed on 24 October 2019. The selection process for the tournament participants will be decided following a consultation between FIFA and the six confederations.
On 28 December 2019, the Chinese Football Association announced eight cities to host the tournament.

Format

The tournament will feature 24 teams, with a play-off between the OFC representative and the 3rd-best Asian team to determine the final entrant. The teams will be split into eight groups of three teams each. The winners of the eight groups will advance to the quarter-finals, which will use a knockout format to determine the champions.

Group stage

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Group G

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Group H

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Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final