Intercontinental club football has perhaps never received the importance it deserves, even though continental club competitions such as the UEFA Champions League and CAF Champions League have been the Holy Grail for teams in their respective regions. That could now all change following FIFA's groundbreaking FIFA Club World Cup format change, which is set to see the tournament expand from seven sides to 32 teams in 2025. In this feature, Soccer Laduma's international team takes a deep delve into the details of this mega expansion and how African football, in particular, could be impacted by these changes.
The Club World Cup As We Know It
The story of the event, which has at times been dominated by superstars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, begins in Brazil in 2000, when it was founded as the replacement competition for the Intercontinental Cup, a tournament that aimed to globalize club football but only featured teams from two confederations: South America's CONMEBOL and Europe's UEFA. Following the showpiece's inauguration that year, it took a brief break before its second edition took place in 2005, with a format of seven teams playing a straight knockout format in the space of two weeks. Winners of the biggest continental club trophy in each confederation, including UEFA, CONMEBOL, CAF, CONCACAF, AFC, and OFC gained automatic qualification, while the seventh team would be the host nation's domestic champion. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the tournament has been dominated by European teams, with UEFA sides winning 15 of the 19 editions so far, while South America has claimed the other four titles. Reigning champions Real Madrid have boasted the most success, having claimed the competition trophy a record five times, while their Spanish archrivals FC Barcelona have been the secondmost triumphant participant with three title victories.
The Significant Changes
It could be argued that the FIFA Club World Cup has lacked the prestige many would have hoped for, and this may be down to several reasons. The showpiece is often staged in the months between December and February, and its schedule has for many years coincided with major domestic competitions, including the most-watched football league in the world, the English Premier League. Reputable financial services company Ernst Young published a report last year showing the English topflight to have had a massive 3.2 billion viewers around the world in the 2019/20 season, with that number projected to have significantly increased in the 2021/22 campaign. The competitive nature of the championship has been cited as one of the key reasons why it attracts an unparalleled audience both on its continent and around the globe in terms of club football. Another plausible explanation as to why the Club World Cup often underwhelms in terms of hype could simply be the small size of the existing format. With just seven teams, the competition lacks the scale of giant tournaments like the UEFA Champions League (32 clubs), Copa Libertadores (47) and the CAF Champions League (group stage, 16).
FIFA seems to have recognised this when the body's executive counsel confirmed that it would be expanded to a 32-team format. The changes will come into effect following the upcoming 2023 edition in Saudi Arabia. From 2025, the Club World Cup will be held every four years and the 32 clubs will comprise 12 teams from UEFA, six from CONMEBOL, four from CONCACAF, four from AFC, four from CAF, one from OFC, and one from the nation with the winners of the confederations' main tournament between 2021 and 2024 set to qualify. FIFA also outlined the following criteria that will be applied: "In the event of a club winning two or more editions of the confederation's premier club competition during the 2021-2024 period, a club ranking calculated according to sporting criteria will be used to grant access. A cap of two clubs per country will be applied to the access list with an exception in cases where more than two clubs from the same country win the confederation's premier club competition over the four-year period. The tournament will have a group phase comprising eight groups of four teams each, with the top two qualifying for the Last 16." Nine clubs have already been assured places in the new format by virtue of the aforementioned criteria, namely: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Monterrey (Mexico), Seattle Sounders (USA), Palmeiras (Brazil), Flamengo (Brazil), Chelsea FC (England) and current holders Real Madrid (Spain).
Time For Africa To Shine?
Al Ahly's 2020/21 CAF Champions League triumph has earned them a spot in the Club World Cup, while Wydad Casablanca's title in 2021/22 means that only two of the four allocated spots remain. All eyes are thus on the current 2022/23 campaign, which is fast approaching its quarter-final stage. African success has been hard to come by in the global competition, with DR Congo giants TP Mazembe having come closest to winning the tournament when they reached the final against eventual winners Inter Milan in 2010. While having four teams in the 2025 edition doesn't guarantee better results for CAF clubs, the event is set to bring great honour not just for the four clubs who qualify but for the nations they hail from as well. Current champions Real are said to have pocketed $5 million (R93.9 million) in prize money for winning the latest competition, while New Zealand outfit Auckland City received $500 000 (R9 million) for their last-place finish.
The financial incentive is likely to significantly increase in two years' time and given African teams' struggles to find large investment, it should be a plus for all four qualified teams. The current CAF Champions League already sees the winner earn $2.5 million (R45 million), which already makes it a more lucrative tournament than the existing Club World Cup format. Africa has been desperate for more money in its football and the new Club World Cup changes are likely to profitably transform teams. CAF president Patrice Motsepe revealed last year that money and commercialization of African football was one of their biggest priorities, thus the creation of the African Super League, a tournament that is set to see CAF's member associations receive $1 million (about R18.4 million). Discussing the benefits of more money in the African game, Motsepe highlighted how this would make African football powerful. "We have been inundated with investors and sponsors who are anxious to partner with us in the CAF Super League. It has huge potential to significantly uplift African football and make it even more powerful," the South African businessman said in July 2022. "A significant amount of the money from the CAF Super League will be invested back into African football, and part of the process involves giving $1m every year to every one of CAF's 54-member associations as a contribution to football and youth development. We also want to look to increase the prize money for the men's and women's CAF Champions Leagues.
