Liverpool and Arsenal handed potential boost as key Club World Cup change looms

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·2 October 2025

Liverpool and Arsenal handed potential boost as key Club World Cup change looms

FIFA expected to make further alteration to revamped competition after summer criticism

Champions: Chelsea won the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup this summer

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The number of English teams involved in the Club World Cup is reportedly set to expand from two to three.

FIFA applied a restriction on this summer’s inaugural edition of the expanded 32-team competition, with a maximum of two clubs per nation allowed to appear at the tournament in the United States.

England’s two representatives were Manchester City and eventual champions Chelsea, who qualified as Champions League winners from 2023 and 2021, respectively.

But FIFA are now expected to move to increase the cap from two clubs per country to three and would not face opposition from UEFA in trying to do so, according to The Times.

However, any efforts to make the tournament biennial, rather than every four years as it currently is, would face difficulty. Expanding it from 32 teams is not to be considered.

A FIFA Council meeting in Zurich on Thursday will assess various topics within football, and the future format of the Club World Cup, next due to be staged in 2029, is likely to be discussed.

Despite featuring 32 teams, the Club World Cup this summer did not include the champions of England, Italy or Spain (Liverpool, Napoli or Barcelona).

That led to criticism of the tournament and questions over its legitimacy as a competition between the world’s best club sides.

Officials at FIFA hope that issue will be alleviated if the number of clubs allowed to compete is increased from a maximum of two per nation to three.