Liverpool would’ve been playing at inaugural Club World Cup but for four sliding-doors scenarios | OneFootball

Liverpool have already secured one piece of silverware in 2025 and will have the chance of picking up another in August, but there’s one trophy being contested in the meantime that they won’t have the opportunity to win.

The Reds’ runaway Premier League triumph means that they’ll face FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the Community Shield in eight weeks’ time in what’ll be the next competitive fixture for Arne Slot’s side.

Before then, two of their domestic rivals could become the inaugural winners of the FIFA Club World Cup, with Gianni Infantino’s pet project getting underway in the United States overnight – Manchester City and Chelsea are among the 32 teams participating in the tournament.

Liverpool could very easily have been there as well, had any one of four scenarios transpired differently.

If Liverpool had beaten Real Madrid in 2022 Champions League final

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The winners of each continental tournament from 2021 to 2024 have earned the right to play at this summer’s Club World Cup, and the Reds would’ve qualified had they beaten Los Blancos in Paris three years ago to lift what would’ve been their seventh European Cup.

Instead, a logic-defying masterclass in goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois meant that it was Carlo Ancelotti’s side who savoured glory at the Stade de France, although football felt secondary on a night when many LFC fans were subjected to horrific treatment by excessively heavy-handed French police.

If Man City had lost to Inter Milan in 2023 Champions League final

(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

There’s a number of European clubs partaking in the Club World Cup who haven’t won the Champions League in the past four years (in some cases never), instead qualifying by virtue of their high ranking in the UEFA coefficient.

Liverpool ought to have qualified via that route, but FIFA have specified that no country can have more than two participating clubs unless three or more have been continental champions between 2021 and 2024.

Had Man City fallen short in the last leg of their bid for the treble two years ago, there’d have been only one English winner of the Champions League in the relevant timeframe, which would’ve left the door open for the Reds to play in the Club World Cup.

If Chelsea had lost to Man City in 2021 Champions League final

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Similar to above, a different outcome in the most recent all-English Champions League final would’ve seen Liverpool qualify for the Club World Cup.

If Man City had beaten Chelsea (and all subsequent finals had the same results), they’d have been the only Premier League side to have been champions of Europe since 2021, which would’ve enabled the Reds to feature at this summer’s FIFA tournament.

If the Club World Cup had gone ahead in 2021 as originally scheduled

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

You could be forgiven for not realising that the Club World Cup was actually meant to have had its first staging in China four years ago, only for the tournament to be postponed due to the global pandemic.

If it had gone ahead as originally scheduled, Liverpool would’ve been participating due to their 2019 Champions League final success against Tottenham Hotspur.

Are Liverpool missing out by not playing at the Club World Cup?

If either Man City or Chelsea were to win the FIFA tournament, they’d earn up to £97m in prize money (BBC Sport), so the financial incentive of Infantino’s pet project is obvious. There’s also the prestige of officially boasting the status as world champions for the next four years.

However, we suspect that most Liverpool fans won’t be too upset that the Reds aren’t involved in the 2025 edition. The last thing Slot and his players need after such a hectic season is another short series of up to seven games in the unforgiving midsummer American heat.

Thomas Tuchel has already claimed that LFC and Arsenal could be at a ‘huge advantage’ in the Premier League next term from not playing in the Club World Cup, which may well have a knock-on effect on the endeavours of Pep Guardiola’s and Enzo Maresca’s teams in 2025/26.