The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup was the latest edition of a competition which brings together the continental champions from different regions with the goal of crowning the best club in the world.
The 2023 tournament was held in Morocco between February 1-11 and featured a total of seven participants.
This competition is regularly held in December, but due to the 2022 men's FIFA World Cup for national teams taking place in Qatar, the FIFA Club World Cup was pushed back to February 2023. It's why it is officially referenced as the 2022 FIFA World Cup despite taking place in calendar year of 2023.
The Sporting News outlines the teams that will do battle in the hope of succeeding English club Chelsea for the title of best in the world.
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Teams in 2023 FIFA Club World Cup
Seven clubs participated in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup: the champions of six continents, plus one berth provided to the host nation champion. The latter slot needed to be reassigned in 2023.
Since Moroccan champions Wydad Casablanca had already qualified for the competition as defending African champions, their place as host nation was transferred to the runner-up of the African tournament, Al Ahly of Egypt.
Real Madrid were the European representatives after winning the UEFA Champions League title. Los Blancos participated in the competition on five previous occasions, winning it four times. Entering 2023, the European participant had won this competition in the previous nine instances, with Brazilian side Corinthians being the last non-European club to win, beating Chelsea 1-0 back in 2012.
The Seattle Sounders were the first Major League Soccer club to ever participate in the FIFA Club World Cup, since Mexican Liga MX previously long held a stranglehold on North America's CONCACAF Champions League.
The Asian participant, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, was nominated by the conference as their participant because the 2022 AFC Champions League will not be completed until May of 2023 due to COVID-19 postponements. Therefore, previous champions Al Hilal were selected to participate in the 2023 Club World Cup.
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| Club | Country | Region | How qualified | Participation (Titles) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | Spain | Europe | UEFA Champions League winner | 6th (4) |
| Flamengo | Brazil | S. America | Copa Libertadores winner | 2nd |
| Seattle Sounders | USA | N. America | CONCACAF Champions League winner | 1st |
| Al Hilal | Saudi Arabia | Asia | AFC Champions League winners | 3rd |
| Al Ahly | Egypt | Africa | CAF Champions League runners-up (host nation berth) | 8th |
| Wydad Casablanca | Morocco | Africa | CAF Champions League winners | 2nd |
| Auckland City | New Zealand | Oceania | OFC Champions League winners | 10th |
MORE: Chelsea's road to the last FIFA Club World Cup title
2022 Club World Cup fixtures
With seven participants, the bracket featured an unconventional construction.
There was a first round game, featuring the host nation against the Oceania participant. Since the host nation berth was assigned to Al Ahly of Egypt, they faced Auckland City.
The winner of the opening match was joined by the teams from North America, Africa, and Asia in the second round, while the European and South American participants entered the fray in the semifinals.
All matches took place in Central European Time (CET), one hour ahead of GMT in London, six hours ahead of ET in the United States and Canada, and 10 hours behind AEDT in Sydney, Australia.
First Round
| Date | Time (Local) | Fixture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, Feb. 1 | 20:00 CET | Al Ahly 3-0 Auckland City | Highlights |
Second Round
| Date | Time (Local) | Fixture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Feb. 4 | 15:30 CET | Wydad Casablanca 1-1 Al Hilal (Al Hilal advanced 5-3 on penalties) | Highlights |
| Sat, Feb. 4 | 18:30 CET | Seattle Sounders 0-1 Al Ahly | Highlights |
Semifinals
| Date | Time (Local) | Fixture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Feb. 7 | 20:00 CET | Flamengo 2-3 Al Hilal | Highlights |
| Wed, Feb. 8 | 20:00 CET | Al Ahly 1-4 Real Madrid | Highlights |
Third Place
| Date | Time (Local) | Fixture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Feb. 11 | 16:30 CET | Flamengo 4-2 Al Ahly | Highlights |
Final
| Date | Time (Local) | Fixture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Feb. 11 | 20:00 CET | Real Madrid 5-3 Al Hilal | Highlights |
FIFA Club World Cup expansion
On December 16, 2022 FIFA announced the launch of an expanded 32-team Club World Cup set for June 2025 and held in the summer every four years, similar to the World Cup for national teams.
It's still unclear how the 32 spots will be allocated to each region and what the qualifying criteria will be. But FIFA president Gianni Infantino did make clear that the intention is that "they will be the best teams in the world".
Original plans for expansion of the tournament called for a 24-team Club World Cup to be played in 2021, but that tournament never got off the ground, due to scheduling conflicts and fixture congestion from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new expanded tournament is set to replace the FIFA Confederations Cup, which in the past served as a test run for the men's World Cup host country the year before the tournament. That could explain why the USA is reportedly a potential host for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, one year prior to the 2026 men's FIFA World Cup.