Global InformationFIFA Club World Cup information
 | |
| Organising body | FIFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| Region | International |
| Number of teams | 32 (from 6 confederations) |
| Related competitions | FIFA Intercontinental Cup |
| Current champions |  Manchester City(1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) |  Real Madrid(5 titles) |
| Website | fifa.com/clubworldcup |
 2025 FIFA Club World Cup | |
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship. It was not held from 2001 to 2004 due to a combination of factors in the cancelled 2001 tournament, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure (ISL), but since 2005 it has been held every year. Views differ as to the cup's prestige: it struggles to attract interest in most of Europe, and is the object of heated debate in South America.[1][2]
The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000, during which year it ran in parallel with the Intercontinental Cup, a competition played by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores, with the champions of each tournament both recognised (in 2017) by FIFA as club world champions. In 2005, the Intercontinental Cup was merged with the FIFA Club World Championship, and in 2006, the tournament was renamed as the FIFA Club World Cup. The winner of the Club World Cup receives the FIFA Club World Cup trophy and a FIFA World Champions certificate.
The current format of the tournament involves seven teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about two weeks; the winners of that year's AFC Champions League (Asia), CAF Champions League (Africa), CONCACAF Champions Cup (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL Libertadores (South America), OFC Champions League (Oceania) and UEFA Champions League (Europe), along with the host nation's national champions, participate in a straight knock-out tournament. The host nation's national champions contest a play-off against the Oceania champions, from which the winner joins the champions of Asia, Africa and North America in the quarter-finals. The quarter-final winners go on to face the European and South American champions, who enter at the semi-final stage, for a place in the final.
Real Madrid hold the record for most titles, having won the competition on five occasions. Corinthians' inaugural victory remains the best result from a host nation's national league champions. Teams from Spain have won the tournament eight times, the most for any nation. England has the largest number of winning teams, with four clubs having won the tournament. The current world champions are Manchester City, who defeated Fluminense 4–0 in the 2023 final.
- ^ Vickery, Tim (15 December 2008). "The prestige of the Club World Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Vickery, Tim (16 December 2014). "Club World Cup: Real Madrid ahead for San Lorenzo". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 June 2021.