Why Aren’t Arsenal at the 2025 Club World Cup?

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Sports Illustrated FC

·12 June 2025

Why Aren’t Arsenal at the 2025 Club World Cup?

The 2024–25 season ended in familiar fashion for Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta’s side finishing second in the Premier League for the third year running. Now, the Gunners can turn their focus to resting, regrouping, and strengthening ahead of the next campaign.

Meanwhile, a few of their title rivals will be heading to the United States for the newly revamped 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which kicks off on June 14 and runs until July 13.

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So why won't Mikel Arteta's side be joining them? Here’s the explanation.

Which Teams Qualified & Why Arsenal Missed Out

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. / IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

Two Premier League clubs qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup: Chelsea and Manchester City.

That’s because both clubs won the UEFA Champions League during the qualification period—Chelsea in 2020–21 and City in 2022–23. Under FIFA’s new rules for the expanded tournament, 12 clubs from UEFA earned places: the four most recent Champions League winners from 2021 to 2024, plus the eight best-ranked teams based on their performances in the competition during that period. A maximum of two clubs per country could qualify via the ranking route.

However, because Real Madrid won the Champions League twice in that span (2022 and 2024), their second automatic spot was passed down, allowing one additional high-performing club to qualify through the rankings—bringing the total to nine.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, they have never won the Champions League and also failed to make the rankings cut, with the two available spots for English clubs already taken by Chelsea and Manchester City.

Will Arsenal Have Another Chance to Qualify?

The Club World Cup trophy. / IMAGO/Brazil Photo Press

Arsenal can no longer qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup, but they’ll have more opportunities in the future. With the tournament now taking place every four years—rather than annually—Arsenal essentially have three more chances to make the cut for the 2029 edition.

With Paris Saint-Germain winning the 2025 Champions League, three more winners’ spots remain for 2026, 2027, and 2028. If Arsenal win one of those tournaments, they’ll automatically qualify.

Otherwise, they’ll need to hope that no other English clubs win it during that cycle—and that their own performances in the Champions League are strong enough to earn one of the limited ranking-based slots, which will again be capped at two per country.

Have Arsenal Ever Played in the Club World Cup?

Arsenal's Jens Lehmann walks past the Champions League trophy in 2006. / Ulmer/IMAGO

No, Arsenal have never played in the Club World Cup. The reason is simple: they’ve never won the Champions League.

In previous years, the Club World Cup featured only seven teams—six continental champions (from UEFA, CONMEBOL, Concacaf, AFC, CAF, and OFC) and one representative from the host nation. Only the most recent winners of each confederation's top club competition qualified—such as the Champions League in Europe or the Concacaf Champions Cup in North America.

England has never hosted the tournament either, with FIFA typically awarding hosting rights to developing soccer regions in Asia, Africa, or the Americas.

The closest Arsenal came to qualifying was in the 2005–06 season, when they reached the Champions League final but lost to Barcelona. Since then, they’ve yet to come that close again—making the revamped, expanded format their best chance to finally break through.