The controversial reason Lionel Messi's Inter Miami are playing in the Club World Cup
There are 32 of the best football teams from across the globe playing in the Club World Cup over the coming weeks.
The contest will see various clubs from all six confederations combining to produce Fifa's ultimate goal of crowning the champions of the world at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.
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Much of the tournament is made up from teams in Europe and South America, where the power of the club game has traditionally been.
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But clubs from Concacaf (North and Central America), AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa) and OFC (Oceania) will hope to spring a surprise.
Why are Inter Miami in the Club World Cup?
The short answer is almost certainly 'Lionel Messi'.
For more than a year, Fifa held open an unspecificied 'host country' slot in the competition, with no explanation for how it would be filled. Then Gianni Infantino turned up out of the blue at an MLS game in Miami to announce that Messi's Inter Miami had qualified for the Club World Cup via this mysterious additional slot due to their success in winning the regular-season league – something that wouldn't normally result in an additional prize, given the subsequent play-offs are where MLS champions are actually decided.
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'As one of the best clubs in the world, you are deserved participants in the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025,' Infantino announced. Fifa later explained in a statement that Inter Miami won the place 'on the basis of the club's outstanding and consistent 34-match campaign.'
MLS chief Don Garber had initially approached Fifa with ideas for how to decide the spot, but has since hinted that Fifa took a unilateral decision over who earned the prize. Rival franchises were not happy, but Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas insisted there was "no controversy'.
Yet it was undeniably an odd move by Fifa to choose the regular-season winners of MLS, considering other continents had very different entry requirements for qualification, such as the past continental champions four years ago – hello, Chelsea. But Infantino has the tournament he has long dreamed of, and he has the world's most famous player starring in it.
Messi training at the Club World Cup this week (AP)
How have teams qualified?
Confederations were allocated a certain number of spots based on the strength of their teams.
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Uefa (Europe) was given 12 spaces, Conmebol (South America) have six, Concacaf (North and Central America), AFC (Asia) and Caf (Africa) each have four spots, and OFC (Oceania) has one spot available.
Concacaf were also given a fifth spot due to being the host nation of the tournament.
These spots were decided through two methods: either winning a continental title in one of the four most recent seasons, or by being highly ranked in a system calculated by performances over the four qualifying years.
In the majority of cases, teams have earned qualification through winning their confederation's equivalent of the Uefa Champions League.
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For the OCF with only one team able to qualify, their spot went to the best performing team over the four years, which happened to be Auckland City.
All countries were only allowed two teams to compete, except if all continental title winners came from the same nation. This is why there are four Brazilian teams who have won qualifying spots for CONMEBOL.
Once the two-per-country cap had been reached, another team from that nation were not eligible to qualify, regardless of their ranking position.
This rule has excluded teams such as Liverpool despite, being the eighth-ranked team, as Manchester City and Chelsea both received automatic qualification thanks to their Champions League victories in 2023 and 2021.
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Other teams ineligible for qualification include Barcelona, RB Leipzig and Napoli, which gave lower ranked teams such as Benfica and FC Salzburg the opportunity to play.
As Real Madrid won the Champions League twice within the four year timeframe (2022 and 2024), nine European teams gained qualification spots through ranking rather than the intended eight.
The same goes for CAF. As their Champions League has been won by only two teams in the past four years, two teams ended up receiving qualification through ranking.
Morocco's Wydad AC are in the tournament (AP)
Qualification from the North and Central American confederation Concacaf is where things become complicated and controversial.
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Mexican side, Club Leon were disqualified from the CWC due to multi-ownership regulations, despite gaining automatic qualification by winning the Champions Cup in 2023. Their shared ownership with Pachuca (who also qualified and are still permitted to compete) goes against Article 10 of Fifa, which forbids one individual or legal entity from controlling more than one club in the same tournament.
As a result, after rejected appeals, Leon were disqualified. Fifa announced a play-off between Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and Mexican team Club America which was won by LAFC, granting them access to the tournament.
Messi is in the tournament (AP)
Who has qualified and how did they get there?
Uefa
Manchester City - Auto - Champions League winners 2023
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Real Madrid - Auto - Champions League winners 2022, 2024
Chelsea - Auto - Champions League winners 2021
Bayern Munich - 3rd ranked
PSG - 4th ranked
Borussia Dortmund - 5th ranked
Inter Milan - 7th ranked
Porto - 9th ranked
Athletico Madrid - 10th ranked
Benfica - 13th ranked
Juventus - 14th ranked
FC Salzburg - 18th ranked
Conmebol
CR Flamengo - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2022
Palmeiras - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2021
Fluminense FC - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2023
Botafogo - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2024
CA River Plate - 4th ranked
CA Broca Juniors - 6th ranked
Concacaf
CF Monterrey - Auto - Champions Cup winners 2021
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Pachuca - Auto - Champions Cup winners 2024
Seattle Sounders - Auto - Champions Cup winners 2022
Los Angeles - Play-off winners following Leon DQ
Inter Miami - Supporters Shield winner 2024
AFC
Al Hilal - Auto - AFC Champions League winners 2021
Uwara Red Diamonds - Auto AFC Champions League winners 2022
Al Ain - Auto - AFC Champions League winners 2024
Ulsan HD - 2nd ranked
CAF
Al Ahly - Auto - CAF Champions League winners 2021, 2023, 2024
Wydad AC - Auto - CAF Champions League winners 2022
Esperance de Tunisie - 3rd ranked
Mamelodi Sundowns - 4th ranked
OFC
Auckland City - best performing team over four years
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