FIFA selects Morocco to host Club World Cup in February

Morocco was rewarded for their record-breaking stints in the ongoing World cup in Qatar by FIFA on Friday with hosting rights for the next Club World Cup in February, with an expanded 32-team edition set to launch in 2025.

The FIFA Club World Cup has been held every year since 2005 and has been hosted by Brazil, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Qatar.

Morocco hosted the Club World Cup in 2013 and again in 2014, while the most recent edition was held in the United Arab Emirates in February, with Chelsea lifting the trophy.

European champion Real Madrid, South American champion Flamengo and Seattle Sounders, the first CONCACAF Champions League winner from the United States, will play in the traditional seven-team tournament.

The tournament will take place from February 1 to 11, 2023, Infantino told reporters at a press conference in Doha, as it returns to Morocco for the third time.

Infantino also said that the tournament, which currently involves seven teams, would now be held every four years and would feature 32 teams from 2025, making it similar to the World Cup.

Infantino said the new format will boost FIFA revenues, and that the expected revenues for the global football association are $11 billion for the period between 2022 and 2026, without including the 2025 Club World Cup.

“This 11 billion figure is without the club World Cup [in 2025]. At the end of the four years we will make even more revenue,” Infantino told a news conference.

Morocco made history in the current Qatar World Cup when it reached the semi-finals to become the first African or Arab country to reach the last four.

The country beat Spain and Portugal in the knockouts but France beat the Moroccan national team 2-0 in Wednesday’s semi-finals match.

The north African side will now play Croatia, with whom they drew in their opening game of the tournament, in the third-place playoff on Saturday.