Draw for inaugural FIFA Club World Cup scheduled for December 5th

The upcoming competition date is creating a buzz among fans and clubs alike, with many uncertainties still lingering. Questions about the competition's revenues, benefits for clubs, TV broadcasters, and sponsors are all up in the air. So far, Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense is the only sponsor that has been announced, leaving much to the imagination.

The draw will kick off at 1800 GMT to determine the eight groups of four teams who will compete in the tournament in the United States from June 15 to July 13.

The 16 clubs finishing in the top two places in each group will qualify for the knockout phase, from the round of 16 to the final, without a match for third place.

The last edition of the Club World Cup featured seven teams but the new version will be considerably bigger with 32 sides including European giants Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

The expanded tournament has come under fire for the extra workload it will place on players and football’s governing body Fifa is yet to announce any broadcast deals.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino recently announced that Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will kick off the club competition at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, on June 15.

It was a controversial decision to award the team a backdoor route into the Club World Cup, but it has proved prescient after Lionel Messi’s team were stunned by Atlanta United in the Major League Soccer play-offs.

Miami finished the season as runaway leaders of the Eastern Conference, but on Nov 9 were shocked 3-2 at home by Atlanta – who had scraped in via a ninth-placed finish 34 points adrift – in the deciding third play-off game after each team had claimed a 2-1 win.

Messi scored for Miami but Bartosz Slisz headed the winner in the 76th minute to complete the huge upset.

However, the league’s glamour team will still take a slot in the Club World Cup after Fifa awarded them the penultimate spot on the back of them winning the “Supporters’ Shield” for finishing top of the MLS standings after the regular season.

“You have shown that in the United States, you are consistently the best club on the field of play,” Infantino said at the time.

“Therefore, I am proud to announce that as one of the best clubs in the world, you are deserved participants in the new Fifa Club World Cup as the host club representing the United States.”

Fifa, of course, was desperate to have Messi, the world’s most famous player, at its new tournament.

It also plans to hold the expanded tournament every four years. No host as yet to be chosen for the 2029 edition. AFP,