MIAMI/ZURICH: The eight European and South Americans contenders have been awarded the top seeding slots in the draw for the controversial FIFA Club World Cup which will be held in Miami on Thursday.

The procedures feature several key principles to ensure competitive balance and geographical diversity throughout the group stage and, depending on sporting results, into the knockout stage.

The qualified clubs have been allocated to four pots of eight teams each, with the respective confederation rankings that were used as part of the qualification process for the competition applied to determine the position of each club within their confederation and allocate them to a pot accordingly.

Pot 1 consists of the four highest-ranked teams from Europe together with the four highest-ranked teams from South America, while pot 2 consists of the remaining eight teams from Europe.

Pot 3 consists of the two highest-ranked teams respectively from Asia, Africa, and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, alongside South America’s two remaining clubs, while pot 4 consists of the two remaining teams respectively from Asia, Africa, and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, alongside Oceania’s representative and the team representing the host country – Inter Miami CF.

The Club World Cup runs from June 15 to July 13, kicking off in Miami and culminating in New York New Jersey.

For the draw itself no group can feature more than one team from the same confederation. This applies to all confederations except UEFA (Europe), which will be represented by 12 clubs at the tournament. Therefore, four of the eight groups will feature two European clubs.

Clubs from the same member association cannot be grouped together and all clubs from pot 1 will be allocated to the first position of the group into which they are drawn.

Additionally, for scheduling purposes, both clubs from the United States – Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders – will be automatically allocated to fourth position in groups A and B respectively. Inter Miami CF will play in the opening match of the tournament at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, while the Sounders will open their campaign at Lumen Field, Seattle, soon afterwards.

The full match schedule comprising the stadium and kick-off time for each fixture will be finalised and published once the draw has taken place, taking into account a range of factors including sporting and player-centric criteria, local and travelling fans and global broadcast considerations.

The pots

Pot 1: Manchester City (ENG), Real Madrid C. F. (ESP), FC Bayern München (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), CR Flamengo (BRA), SE Palmeiras (BRA), CA River Plate (ARG), Fluminense FC (BRA)
Pot 2: Chelsea FC (ENG), Borussia Dortmund (GER), FC Internazionale Milano (ITA), FC Porto (POR), Atlético de Madrid (ESP), SL Benfica (POR), Juventus FC (ITA), FC Salzburg (AUT)
Pot 3: Al Hilal (KSA), Ulsan HD (KOR), Al Ahly FC (EGY), Wydad AC (MAR), CF Monterrey (MEX), Club León (MEX), CA Boca Juniors (ARG), Botafogo (BRA)
Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN), Al Ain FC (UAE), Espérance Sportive de Tunisie (TUN), Mamelodi Sundowns FC (RSA), CF Pachuca (MEX), Seattle Sounders FC (USA), Auckland City FC (NZL), Inter Miami CF (USA)

FIFA has been struggled to attracted the hoped-for high-income rush of television channels and sponsors but at least Bank of America, already a sponsor of the World Cup in central and north America in 2026, 2026, has also come on board for the club event.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “We are thrilled to have Bank of America on board for the inaugural 32-team FIFA Club World Cup. In recent months we’ve enjoyed detailed discussions with Bank of America’s leadership about FIFA’s mission both on and off the pitch, so we’re delighted that they’ve joined us on our journey to redefine global club football in addition to working side-by-side with us for FIFA World Cup 2026.”

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