The announcement of the newly-structured 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has excited many African football enthusiasts as to how top clubs on the continent can compete with famous sides from Europe and South America.
A South African club can stake a place in the tournament which is set to take place in the United States of America in June and July 2025. Mamelodi Sundowns, who recently bagged the inaugural African Football League, can join the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Wydad Casablanca and Al Ahly SC whose participation have already been confirmed after winning recent continental titles of their respective associations.
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The revamped Club World Cup will see the continent of Africa allocated four slots, with UEFA and CONMEBOL granted 12 and six places respectively.
There will be questions asked about the effect of the African Football League on available slots, particularly from a South African perspective with Sundowns having won the competition recently. Otherwise, if the AFL is not counted for the rankings then the Brazilians may need to win the Caf Champions League this season to qualify for the World Cup.
With CAF handed four spots, two more are up for grabs where one spot will be given to the next best ranked team on the continent of Africa. Masandawana are among the highest-ranked sides alongside Ahly and Wydad so they should have a good chance of qualifying for USA 2025.
However, if Sundowns don't progress from the group stage of the competition this season, that could be a major setback for them, particularly since it's not clear whether their AFL glory will be counted in the rankings. Technically, if this season's Caf Champions League is won by Wydad or Al Ahly, and the Brazilians at least reach the semi-finals, they should have a good chance of qualifying.
With 32 teams comprising of four in each group, the tournament format is going to be a similar one to last year's FIFA World Cup that took place in Qatar for national teams.
The only difference is that there will be no third-place playoff. The current FIFA Club World Cup tournament, which is taking place in Saudi Arabia now, features every year with just the winners from each continent participating, and is mainly played over two weeks. The 2025 expanded event will run for a month and FIFA is looking to increase the hype of the competition's importance.
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