FIFA President Gianni Infantino congratulates Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti during the Club World Cup award ceremony in Rabat, Morocco (Photo/Manu Fernández)

Three days after the end of Club World Cup which obtained for the eighth time in its history the real Madrid after beating the final 5-3 Al Hilal directed by Ramón Díaz in Rabat, Morocco, the Fifa confirmed the new venue for the next edition and decided to reward the country that turned out to be the second in the competition.

In a statement released on Tuesday February 14, the Zurich-based parent entity of world football announced that Saudi Arabia will host the maximum number of competitions at club level which will take place from December 12 to 22, 2023. The decision of the FIFA Council was unanimous for the Gulf country to be the host.

It will be the first time in history that Saudi Arabia has organized a football tournament of such magnitude, but it is not the only state in the Asian oil region to get into the ball business, since its neighbors Qatar there United Arab Emirates They have organized the Club World Cup in other editions. Japan there Morocco were the other hosts of the former Intercontinental Cup.

Thus, the organization of the Club World Cup responds to a strategy of the Arab country to show that it is capable of presenting the candidacy to organize the World Cup of 2030with Greece there Egypt and thus dispute the place claimed by Argentina-Uruguay-Paraguay-Chile, and Morocco and Spain-Portugal-Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal surprised everyone at the 2022 Club World Cup by beating Flamengo and advancing to the final against Real Madrid, which they then lost (Reuters/Andrew Boyers)
Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal surprised everyone at the 2022 Club World Cup by beating Flamengo and advancing to the final against Real Madrid, which they then lost (Reuters/Andrew Boyers)

After a pilot edition in 2000, won by Brazil’s Corinthians, the Club World Cup was added to the calendar in 2005, replacing the Intercontinental Cup, which pitted the winner of the Copa Libertadores against the winner of the UEFA Champions League.

In the current format, the tournament is contested by the continental winners (South America, Central and North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania) plus the champion of the host country, making a total of seven teams. At the next edition I could participate Cristiano Ronaldonew reference from Al Nasrif he wins the Saudi championship title with his team.

On the other hand, FIFA plans to change the format of the tournament in 2025increasing the 32 teams participants and organizing it every four years, like the Team World Cup.

On this subject, the FIFA Council has defined the distribution of places by continent: 4 for Asia, 4 for Africa, 4 for Central and North America, 5 for South America, 12 for Europe and one for the host country.

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