Twelve stadiums have been announced as venues for the expanded Club World Cup holding in the United States next year. There will be 32 clubs in attendance – a far departure from the regular  eight.

The tournament kicks off on Sunday, 15 June 2025, with all roads leading to the MetLife Stadium in New York.

The final match will be in New Jersey on Sunday, 13 July 2025, just over a year before the venue stages the FIFA World Cup 26 final.

This venue is joined by 11 more – Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle), and Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).

“The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will feature 12 fantastic stadiums where a new chapter in football’s global history will be written by great players from the 32 best clubs in the world,”  Infantino, the FIFA president stated.

 “This new FIFA competition is the only true example in worldwide club football of real solidarity and inclusivity, allowing the best clubs from Africa, Asia, Central and North America and Oceania to play the powerhouses of Europe and South America in an incredible new World Cup which will impact enormously the growth of club football and talent globally.

“This is about opportunity and hope for those who need it most, and also about prestige and true football for those who make our sport shine.” 

With the draw set for December, just two of the 32 teams are yet to be confirmed: one from South America, the other representing the host country.

The expanded FIFA Club World Cup which has put the organisation of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in disarray, is beginning to crumble.

Cup holders, Real Madrid, have indicated their intention not to participate.

Earlier on, the umbrella body of professional footballers has also frowned at the fixtures congestion which the novel competition appears to have caused.

According to Reuters’ report, Real Madrid will decline FIFA’s invitation to participate in the Club World Cup as the governing body have undervalued the compensation the 15-times Champions League winners should receive, manager Carlo Ancelotti said.

FIFA’s revamped international tournament, with 32 teams, is set to take place in the United States at the end of next season, with Europe’s best-ranked 12 clubs among those invited.

Ancelotti, one of the most successful football managers in Europe, has won the Club World Cup three times and the Champions League five times.

“FIFA can forget it, footballers and clubs will not participate in that tournament,” Ancelotti told Italian daily Il Giornale in an interview published on Monday to coincide with his 65th birthday.

“A single Real Madrid match is worth 20 million and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the whole cup. Negative. Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation.”

Ancelotti, who led Real to a Champions League and LaLiga double last season, said there had been a lot of pressure on managers lately but he had managed to stay passionate about his job.

“I see nothing particularly new, this has always been our job but the case of (former Liverpool manager Juergen) Klopp is significant. The pressure continues, the burden of responsibility becomes too heavy, obsession takes over,” he said.

“I keep my passion, that’s how I live the match, the game, my job; I’ve always carried this balance with me. I’ve overcome moments that weren’t always positive; after my experience with Everton I was off the radar, they thought I was finished, I was old.”

With all three European club competitions expanded to 36 teams from next season, the Club World Cup has come under scrutiny for saturating the football calendar.

In May, FIFA said they would not consider rescheduling their 32-team Club World Cup after global players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Association (WLA) threatened legal action if they did not review their plans.

World football governing body Fifa has rejected claims that Fifpro and the World Leagues Association were not consulted over plans to host a 32-team Club World Cup.

It comes after players’ union Fifpro and the WLA called on Fifa to reschedule the tournament, due to take place next summer, amid a threat of legal action.

Fifpro and the WLA said “players are being pushed beyond their limits”.

In a letter sent to Fifpro and the WLA, which has been seen by BBC Sport, Fifa says it has “a duty and responsibility” to implement an international match calendar in the “best interests of world football”.

Fifa insisted Fifpro and the WLA were consulted about changes to the overall 2025-30 international match calendar, including the 2025 Club World Cup, which was confirmed by the Fifa Council in December 2022.

Although it says it is open to talks, Fifa has no intention of altering next year’s Club World Cup, saying it is “fully within our rights to set the parameters of our competitions whilst respecting the regulatory framework in place”.

Manchester City and Chelsea are among the 12 European representatives at the expanded Club World Cup, to be held in the USA between 13 June and 15 July 2025.

Fifa point out that domestic member leagues of the WLA, such as the Premier League, can arrange their own competitions, noting the organisation of “international tours” in recent years.

Last summer, the Premier League hosted a six-team summer series in the USA, involving Chelsea, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham, Aston Villa and Brentford.

Fifa also asked if Fifpro and the WLA had been in touch with other bodies, given their games “are responsible for a fractional amount of the total elite club games around the world”.

“While we disagree with the tenor and content of your letter, we have nonetheless taken note of your concerns and are more than happy to invite you to discuss the matter further at a time convenient to you,” Fifa added.

-BBC