ZURICH: The world’s best football clubs will discover their group stage opponents for the inaugural 32-club FIFA Club World Cup at the draw on December 5 in Miami.

The date was highly anticipated as many questions still surround this competition, whose revenues and benefits for the clubs remain a mystery — its TV broadcasters are not yet known and only one sponsor has been announced: Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense.

The draw will kick off at 1800 GMT to determine the eight groups of four teams who will compete in the tournament in the United States from June 15 to July 13.

The 16 clubs finishing in the top two places in each group will qualify for the knockout phase, from the round of 16 to the final, without a match for third place.

The last edition of the Club World Cup featured seven teams but the new version will be considerably bigger with 32 sides including Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

The expanded tournament has come under fire for the extra workload it will place on players and football’s governing body is yet to announce any broadcast deals.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently announced that Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will kick off the club competition at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, on June 15.

FIFA plan to hold the expanded tournament every four years. No host as yet to be chosen for the 2029 edition.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024