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- Saudi giants to take part in expanded 32-team competition
Riyadh: Saudi winners of the 2021 AFC Champions League, Al-Hilal football club, will take part in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 along with 31 other teams from different continents.
FIFA confirmed on Tuesday that the Club World Cup 2025 will witness the participation of four teams from Asia, winners of the previous four editions of the AFC Champions League, starting from 2021 to 2025.
The African continent will also participate with four teams, including the winners of the CAF Champions League from 2021 to 2025, confirming the participation of Al-Ahly of Egypt, the 2021 champion, and the Moroccan Wydad, the 2022 champion.
Meanwhile, Europe will participate with 12 teams, including Chelsea, winners of the UEFA Champions League in 2021, and 2022 champions Read Madrid, along with the 2023 and 2024 winners. The remaining teams from Europe will be determined according to their classification approved by the International Football Association.
From South America, the six champions of the last four editions from 2021 to 2025 will take part, in addition to two other teams.
There will also be four teams from North America, one team from the Oceania continent, as well as the host team.
FIFA said in an official statement on its website that 鈥渋n the event of a club winning two or more editions of the confederation鈥檚 premier club competition during the 2021-2024 period, a club ranking calculated based on sporting criteria will be used to grant access.鈥�
The criteria set by the FIFA also included that 鈥渁 cap of two clubs per country will be applied to the access list with an exception in case more than two clubs from the same country win the confederation鈥檚 premier club competition over the four-year period.鈥�