I might be late on this, but only just realized Chelsea have already booked a slot!

IF they actually pull this off it will be 32 teams meeting in June/July 2025, host TBD but USA is rumoured.

Qualified so far:

• Chelsea FC (England) – Champions UEFA Champions League 2020/21 
• Real Madrid CF (Spain) – Champions UEFA Champions League 2021/22
• Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) – Champions AFC Champions League 2021 
• Al Ahly (Egypt) – Champions CAF Champions League 2020/21 
• Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) – Champions CAF Champions League 2021/22 
• Monterrey (Mexico) – Champions Concacaf Champions League 2021 
• Seattle Sounders (USA) – Champions Concacaf Champions League 2022 
• Palmeiras (Brazil) – Champions CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores 2021 
• Flamengo (Brazil) – Champions CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores 2022 

 

Oh goodie, more opportunities to get fatigued and subsequently injured. 

I know opinions are divided about this, but then again they were when Chelsea qualified for the inaugural 1955-1956 European Cup.

Personally I'm looking forward to it as would rather be in competitions like this and not watching on from the sidelines like Tottenham.

Edited April 12, 20233 yr by TokyoBlue

58 minutes ago, TokyoBlue said:

I know opinions are divided about this, but then again they were when Chelsea qualified for the inaugural 1955-1956 European Cup.

Personally I'm looking forward to it as would rather be in competitions like this and not watching on from the sidelines like Tottenham.

32 teams is overdoing it, in my opinion. It's not just the number of matches, it's probably jetlag and high temperatures as well. When are the players ever get some proper rest?

22 minutes ago, Valerie said:

32 teams is overdoing it, in my opinion. It's not just the number of matches, it's probably jetlag and high temperatures as well. When are the players ever get some proper rest?

Don't worry ... we'll have 60 players in our "roster" by then !

59 minutes ago, Valerie said:

32 teams is overdoing it, in my opinion. It's not just the number of matches, it's probably jetlag and high temperatures as well. When are the players ever get some proper rest?

I agree, but every other year those same players have a world cup and a euros / Copa America. 

So my gripe is actually with the domestic season being too packed rather than an additional tournament in the off season. And this tournament would replace the one that happens in the middle of that domestic season and is basically just a banana skin for the European team - no joy if they win, embarrassment if they don't. 

I'd like to see the league cup scrapped for teams in europe and the league cut to 18 teams. Fa cup replays gone. Maybe then also a commitment that there's a defined 8 weeks off in the summer. 

I think 32 is twice as big as it needs to be. It's too many and limits who can host among other things.

Saying that, it's 7 games if you go all the way to the final or 3rd place playoff.

Now of course 7 games sounds like a lot, until you consider that Chelsea played 7 pre-season games before the 2016–17 season, and 9 before the 2019–20 season.

As well as the prestige of calling ourselves "World Champions", there's also talk of a big financial incentive.

Edited April 12, 20233 yr by TokyoBlue

2 hours ago, Valerie said:

32 teams is overdoing it, in my opinion. It's not just the number of matches, it's probably jetlag and high temperatures as well. When are the players ever get some proper rest?

Being in June/July must rule out the Middle East. I'm guessing USA as they have the capacity, plus it would be good prep for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

I've been calling for the CWC to become a tournament like this since the beginning of time.

It's mad the chance to call yourself world champions isn't a bigger deal than it is.

2 hours ago, Argo said:

I've been calling for the CWC to become a tournament like this since the beginning of time.

It's mad the chance to call yourself world champions isn't a bigger deal than it is.

That is something that really does not keep me up at night!

Anyway, it's all about money of course, which is also an incentive for the FA to do nothing about replays for the FA Cup, or the League Cup as such. And our players get 2 weeks or so rest before pre-season starts again.

13 hours ago, TokyoBlue said:

I know opinions are divided about this, but then again they were when Chelsea qualified for the inaugural 1955-1956 European Cup.

Personally I'm looking forward to it as would rather be in competitions like this and not watching on from the sidelines like Tottenham.

There is simply too much football, we only have to look at somebody like Mason Mount to see how too much football impacts your career going forward. Another player is Fabregas, the guy was a decent runner when he was at Arsenal, but his legs were shot by the time we signed him, and he wasn't even 30 years old. It's absurd for any player to play 60 games in a season regularly, but that is what will happen with a tournament like this. 

Back in the early 2000's there was so much debate and concern about fixture congestion, but they have done nothing to tackle it, it's just getting worse. Also, as much as I love football, I don't really have interest in watching it all year, every year. I already avoid watching so much now because there is so much of it. The likes of FIFA and UEFA are diluting the sport in their attempts to squeeze every last penny out of it.

Just a sh*t trophy no one cares about unless you win it and you try to convince everyone else it's a trophy of relevance. Tuchels biggest fans still try to back him up with that famous club world cup trophy, its harder to win the charity shield 😂

13 hours ago, Ernie_blue said:

Just a sh*t trophy no one cares about unless you win it and you try to convince everyone else it's a trophy of relevance. Tuchels biggest fans still try to back him up with that famous club world cup trophy, its harder to win the charity shield 😂

Personally, I feel Tuchel is more celebrated for winning the Champions League, making Top 4 in successive seasons under a different set of adverse circumstances, and in reaching 3 domestic finals, with all that achieved in the span of just a season and a half. He really doesn't need the Club World Cup to "back him up", albeit it makes for a nice cherry on top 🙂 

Plus the club itself clearly care enough about the CWC to list it proudly as a trophy on our website, underneath the banner "we've won it all". 

Definitely harder to win than the Charity Shield, seeing as the gateway for entry is actually having to win the Champions League, which is magnitudes of difficulty harder than winning the FA Cup (like Leicester did in 20/21 for example, and who then went on to lift the Charity Shield in 21/22).

Granted you'd expect the CL winners to come out on top once they actually get to the CWC of course, as has happened 15 out of 19 times so far.  

CWC is prestigious imo and well worth to brag about. You are facing the champions of every continent and some of these clubs treat this as a world cup final given they may never get another opportunity again. It's no way an easy trophy to win. Liverpool and ourselves barely won it these past few years. 

5 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Personally, I feel Tuchel is more celebrated for winning the Champions League, making Top 4 in successive seasons under a different set of adverse circumstances, and in reaching 3 domestic finals, with all that achieved in the span of just a season and a half. He really doesn't need the Club World Cup to "back him up", albeit it makes for a nice cherry on top 🙂 

Plus the club itself clearly care enough about the CWC to list it proudly as a trophy on our website, underneath the banner "we've won it all". 

Definitely harder to win than the Charity Shield, seeing as the gateway for entry is actually having to win the Champions League, which is magnitudes of difficulty harder than winning the FA Cup (like Leicester did in 20/21 for example, and who then went on to lift the Charity Shield in 21/22).

Granted you'd expect the CL winners to come out on top once they actually get to the CWC of course, as has happened 15 out of 19 times so far.  

I was taking the piss about Tuchel like I have in a few threads, you go into threads to read about what the thread is meant to be about and the same plonkers keep having to go back to Tuchel, I don't know why they dont just join the Bayern Munich forum.

CWC is just a sh*t comp like the charity shield and European super cup, no one gives a sh*t unless you win it and then you try and milk it as some sort of serious competition if your club do win it.

Off to the USA in 2025 we go!

https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/fifa-council/media-releases/fifa-council-appoints-united-states-as-host-of-new-and-expanded-fifa-club-world-cup

Edited June 25, 20233 yr by TokyoBlue

18 minutes ago, TokyoBlue said:

Off to the USA in 2025 we go!

https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/fifa-council/media-releases/fifa-council-appoints-united-states-as-host-of-new-and-expanded-fifa-club-world-cup

I need some time to work up the required enthousiasm.

Actually excited about this since we aren't going to be in Europe next season.

I have to admit, the increased number of teams makes it feel like a much more serious competition that it was previously

I see Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli are already qualified as well, so we may well get a nice little reunion with Koulibaly and Mendy LOL

I'm going! Most people know someone over in the USA and it could be a long time before we get a chance to see Chelsea in this competition again.

Who knows how big this competition could become in the future?

Let's not forget that we qualified for the first ever European Cup in 1955 - and were persuaded by the FA to turn down the invite. History could have been very different.

Edited June 27, 20233 yr by TokyoBlue

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/17/liverpool-miss-2025-club-world-cup-spot-qualification

That's a shame.....

Can't wait to see the state of the team after this. We'll have double figure injuries going into the 2025-2026 season 😑

4 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Can't wait to see the state of the team after this. We'll have double figure injuries going into the 2025-2026 season 😑

No holidays for the players probably. Season ends, this begins, then straight to preseason. 

Probably even Gallagher could not come through that without injury.

On 20/12/2023 at 03:28, axman2526 said:

No holidays for the players probably. Season ends, this begins, then straight to preseason. 

Probably even Gallagher could not come through that without injury.

I see it similar to when the first world cups were held in the 1930's. England turned down a chance to attend and regretted it.

Also Chelsea turned down the chance to play in the inaugural European Cup in 1955 due to pressure form the FA. A huge mistake.

Football has become truly global. We've earned our spot and can't waste the opportunity.

Edited January 1, 20242 yr by TokyoBlue