Last night, Barca played for themselves, but also for Juventus! By eliminating Napoli, the Catalans remained in the race with Atlético Madrid for a place in next year’s Club World Cup, but also solved the issue of the second traveler from Italy. Napoli needed a passage to the next round and to record one victory there in order to be the second representative of Italy at the Club World Cup along with Inter. They didn’t succeed, so Juventus qualified thanks to a higher coefficient. Despite not playing in Europe this season, the Old Lady, thanks to the coefficient from previous seasons, secured a place at the World Cup for clubs as the second representative of Italy. Milan and Lazio missed their chances even earlier. As a reminder, only the results achieved in the Champions League are taken into consideration.You probably know it, but let’s repeat: From 2025, every four years, FIFA will organize the Club World Cup with 32 participants.Just like the World Cup for national teams. The best clubs from all continents are divided into eight groups with four participants each. Placement is secured by continental titles or by ranking based on results over the last four seasons, with the fact that a maximum of two clubs can go from the same country, except in some exceptional cases. Of course, European football has the most representatives (12), followed by South America (6), North America (4), Africa (4), Asia (4) and Oceania (1).##NAJAVA_MECA_7950691##The new Club World Cup will be organized in the USA in the summer of 2025, and the names of some participants are already known based on continental titles and results in the accounting period from 2020 to 2024.Places from Europe were reserved by the champions Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City plus the winner of the Champions League from this season (if the same winner repeats, then the club in the ranking goes, most likely RB Salzburg). Based on the four-year ranking in European competitions, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Inter, Porto and Benfica also secured a place in the World Cup.And as of last night, Juventus – who needed Napoli to be eliminated. There is one more vacancy left for the Spaniards. Atletico Madrid are ahead of Barcelona, but the Catalans can overtake them. If Inter knocks out the Madridians, and Barca go to the semi-finals with at least a win and a draw in the quarter-finals. It’s not unrealistic…So, the list of European travelers is slowly coming to an end. As for the other continents, most of the participants are known as well.From Asia, Japan’s Urawa and Saudi Al Hilal are safe as champions of the continent in the previous two years. Plus the winner of the Champions League this season. Plus the best-ranked club at the moment is Jeonbuk from South Korea.Congratulations to @juventusfc on qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025! As a result of @sscnapoli’s elimination from the @ChampionsLeague, Juventus are now assured of a spot via Europe’s ranking pathway and become the 10th team from Europe to qualify for the tournament. pic.twitter.com/DuFVzCsgqh— FIFA (@FIFAcom) March 12, 2024 From South America, the Brazilian clubs Palmeiras, Flamengo and Fluminense are safe as the three previous champions of the continent. The winner of the Copa Libertadores for 2024 and the two best clubs in the ranking are waiting. At the moment it is River Plate and Boca Juniors.From North America, the Mexican Monterrey and Leon, the American Seattle Sounders and the winner of the CONCACAF Champions League for this year are safe.Egyptian Al Ahly and Moroccan Widad are safe African representatives, the winner of the Champions League for this season is waiting, plus the best team according to the four-year ranking, which is currently the South African Mamelodi Sundowns.The rest of the European Champions League will also be followed closely by Red Bull Salzburg. They will secure a place at the World Cup provided Arsenal or PSV Eindhoven do not win the current edition of the Champions League.Qualified for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup tournament so far. 🚨#africanfootball#clubwc pic.twitter.com/c8m7mCzxvm— Micky Jnr (@MickyJnr__) March 12, 2024
