Fifa has agreed to create a joint venture with the lobby group European Football Clubs (EFC) to operate the Club World Cup, a move that is likely to result in more Premier League clubs entering the lucrative competition. Chelsea earned approximately £84 million from winning the inaugural 32-team tournament in 2025, prompting other major European clubs to lobby Fifa for an expansion to increase their chances of qualification.
Expansion to 48 teams expected in 2029
The EFC's involvement is expected to accelerate plans to expand the competition to 48 clubs when it next takes place in 2029. In the 2025 edition, Europe was represented by 12 clubs, with six from South America and five from the Concacaf North American confederation. However, some of the world's biggest clubs, including Liverpool, Barcelona, and Napoli—the then champions of England, Spain, and Italy respectively—did not participate. Qualification was restricted to the four previous winners of the Champions League and eight clubs with the highest Uefa coefficient, with a cap of two entrants per country.
Cap on clubs per country could be lifted
The EFC is understood to want the two-club-per-country cap lifted, which would have significant implications for English clubs. Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City are all in Uefa's coefficient top eight, meaning they could qualify under a revised system. The EFC is likely to argue that increasing the number of European clubs would boost the Club World Cup's commercial value, following Fifa's struggle to sell TV rights for the tournament. A $1 billion (£0.76 billion) global TV deal was eventually agreed with Dazn after the streaming company received an equivalent investment from the Saudi Arabian-government backed Surj Sports Investments.
Joint venture mirrors Uefa partnership
The EFC already has a joint venture with Uefa that runs European club competitions, UC3, and its arrangement with Fifa is expected to operate on similar lines. Relations between the organisations have improved after tension before the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup in the US, which Fifa insisted on running themselves. The EFC, chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi, represents more than 700 European clubs, including all of the biggest ones after Real Madrid returned to the fold this year. Real Madrid had been suspended from the EFC for five years due to their agitation to create a European Super League, but after formally withdrawing from the project last February, the Spanish club was readmitted.
Focus on solidarity payments and future plans
Fifa is understood to have been impressed with the EFC's commercial work on behalf of Uefa, whose media and sponsorship revenues for the Champions League and other club competitions have increased by about 25% over the next four-year cycle, from 2027. The EFC's current focus is agreeing a redistribution formula for the £185 million owed to clubs across the world in solidarity payments from last year's tournament, which, as the Guardian reported in February, has yet to be paid. Clubs that did not participate in the tournament were promised a share of the sum, which if shared equally would amount to about £50,000 for every top-flight club in the world, but 12 months later they are growing frustrated by the delay. The £740 million prize money has been paid, but the six confederations have yet to agree on how the solidarity fees should be distributed. After that is resolved, attention is likely to turn to discussions over the next Club World Cup in 2029 and its possible expansion to 48 teams.
