According to FIFA, the organization will hold a consultation on expanding the Club World Cup to 48 teams by 2029 if the tournament this summer is successful.
The current tournament, which consists of 32 participating teams, will kick off in the US on June 15. The winning team will receive a participation fee and a prize of up to 125.8 million USD (93.2 million pounds) for playing 7 matches. This figure is about 25 million pounds less than PSG received from UEFA for the Champions League title (including 17 matches).
Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and AC Milan are among the big clubs with a large number of fans but have not qualified to participate. FIFA is still limiting the number of European teams to 12 to participate in the tournament, so expanding is the only way to get more teams from this region to compete.
The expansion of the Club World Cup will be especially welcomed by European clubs. A bigger tournament with more European clubs will also be suitable for FIFA in selling commercial contracts.
serious discussions on expanding the Club World Cup will take place between all parties involved in the format and structure of the tournament. This process is expected to be held after the tournament ends in the summer.
Increasing the number of participating teams means increasing the limit for two clubs from the same country to participate. With the current format, this is a limitation that means Liverpool will not be able to participate even though they meet one of the criteria of being one of the 8 teams with the best results in the Champions League but not winning the tournament from 2021 to 2024.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid have qualified as Champions League champions during that time. In addition, 9 other European clubs are eligible through the UEFA rankings.
Brazil has 4 representatives thanks to 4 consecutive championships at Copa Libertador. The US has three participating clubs after Los Angeles defeated Mexico Club America in the play-off.
