Who will claim the trophy in the 2025 Club World Cup?

Club World Cup 2025: Predictions

The Club World Cup 2025 will be the 21st edition of the tournament dedicated to the best teams in the world, for the first time open to 32 teams. The competition will be held in the United States: it will start in mid-June 2025 and will end on July 13 with the election of the world champion team. 

The access criteria have also changed: twelve places for UEFA (European confederation) teams and six for COMNEBOL (South American confederation) dedicated to the winners of the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores in the period 2021-24, with the additional teams chosen based on a ranking for the same period; AFC (Asian Confederation), CAF (African Confederation) and CONCACAF (North American, Central American and Caribbean Confederation) have entered four teams, namely the winners of the main confederation competition in the 2021-24 period, while one place is reserved for the team with the best ranking among the winners of the Oceanian Confederation Cup in 2021-24 and one for the host federation. 

Let's try to understand what to expect from this highly anticipated tournament by looking at the odds of the bookies not on Gamstop, among the most reliable on the international scene where you can test your knowledge of this competition.

Who will participate in the next Club World Cup

The list of teams that will participate in the tournament is already almost complete. Among the UEFA teams, there are the winners of the Champions League in the 2021-24 period, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City, together with nine teams by ranking: Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Salzburg. For COMNEBOL, there are the three teams, all Brazilian, that won the last editions of the Copa Libertadores: Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Botafogo that won the 2024 edition, to which are added the Argentine River Plate and Boca Juniors. 

From the African confederation come the Egyptians of Al-Ahly and the Moroccans of Wydad Casablanca, the last winners of the CAF Champions League, with the Tunisians of Espérance and the South Africans of Sundowns first in the ranking, while for Asia there are Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Urawa Reds (Japan), Al-Ain (UAE) after the victory in the confederation tournament and Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea) for the ranking. From CONCACAF come three Mexican teams (Pachuca, Monterrey and León) and two American teams (Seattle Sounders and another to be determined). Finally, New Zealand’s Auckland City are certain of their place thanks to their ranking among the winners of the OFC Confederation Cup.

What to expect from the 2025 Club World Cup

Football-wise, nine months until the kick-off of the Club World Cup is an eternity. Most of the clubs involved in this tournament have just started their season and the risk is that all the accumulated fatigue could somehow weigh on the players’ legs. There is no doubt, however, about the teams that will start ahead of everyone in a hypothetical starting grid, with the two most solid teams in Europe competing for the sceptre of favorites, with odds around 3.00: 

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City on one side, strong from a start to the season in which only victories have arrived and the talent of Erling Haaland has shone, on the other Real Madrid who, despite two draws in the first four matchdays, remains the team most accustomed to these stages, even more so after the arrival of Kylian Mbappé. Bayern Munich will also try (around 6.00), who wants to give Harry Kane his first trophy, but also watch out for Paris Saint-Germain and Inter (10.00 - 15.00) who present themselves as serious candidates for the final victory.

Not just Europe

Although the predictions and numbers say that the world champion team will be European, with Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid and Chelsea ready to sign up for the Club World Cup race, the main threats for the old continent will come from South America. Flamengo could be one of the most dangerous teams, but also watch out for the other Brazilian teams, with Fluminense still hoping to confirm themselves as holders of the Copa Libertadores and Palmeiras who are experiencing a great moment in history. From Argentina come two teams that are always very difficult: 

Boca Juniors, one of the most successful teams when the Club World Cup was the Intercontinental Cup, and River Plate, both able to count on the always warm support of the Argentine fans. The CONCACAF teams do not seem to have ambitions of final victory: the start of the season of Pachuca and León has not been positive, but Monterrey is not particularly convincing either. Those who can hope for a good path are Al-Hilal of Koulibaly, Cancelo, Milinkovic-Savic and Malcom, while Al-Ahly dreams of being able to extend their dominion from the African continent to the entire world: this would, however, be a real undertaking.