FIFA Has Made A Big Change That Could Be Great For US Soccer Fans

As soccer’s governing body, FIFA runs a lot of tournaments. We all know about the FIFA Men’s World Cup and Women’s World Cup, but they run tournaments for all age groups and a club tournament as well.

However, the FIFA Club World Cup does not have much prestige. After all, it’s a small tournament made up of eight teams and many aren’t recognizable.

That’s because up to this point, it has included up to this point one team from each of the seven confederations, plus an extra host team. That means all the best clubs aren’t there. For instance, usually, the defending UEFA Champions League champions are in the Club World Cup, but none of the other top clubs in Europe, which are the best clubs in the world. In fact, the UEFA rep has won every tournament contested since 2012.

But, a big change could be coming to the event that could be big for US-based soccer fans.

The Club World Cup will expand to 32 teams in 2025

You may remember that there used to be a FIFA Confederations Cup. This tournament, held the year before the World Cup in the host nation of the upcoming competition, matched up the defending continental champions from each confederation. In fact, in 2009 the USA came wildly close to winning it. They beat the defending European champions Spain 2-0 in the semifinals. And, in the finals against Brazil they took a 2-0 lead before falling 3-2.

But, FIFA recently ended that competition, with the idea of an enhanced summer Club World Cup to take its place. And, they made a huge announcement about the Club World Cup early Friday.

New men’s World Cup will start in 3 years, FIFA announces.

Gianni Infantino: “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”, Infantino added via @sr_collings. pic.twitter.com/YQZM38aNoT

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 16, 2022

The tournament will grow dramatically. But, you still may be wondering why this is good news for US soccer fans. After all, an MLS club isn’t going to win the Club World Cup. Well…

FIFA announces 2025 men's Club World Cup will expand dramatically to 32 teams. I'm assuming it will take place in summer and act as both a preseason competition for most teams involved and maybe dry run for nation(s) hosting World Cup the following year…as CONFED Cup once was?

— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) December 16, 2022

Imagine the world’s biggest clubs playing very meaningful matches on American soil. Yes, they play here sometimes in their preseason tours. But, those matches don’t really mean anything. These matches presumably will be taken seriously by the clubs. That could help build momentum in front of a North American-hosted World Cup in 2026.