2025 Club World Cup Qualification: Chelsea and Manchester City Secure English Spots
Chelsea and Manchester City have secured their spots in the 2025 Club World Cup, representing English teams in the tournament. Liverpool, the Premier League champions, are not eligible to participate. European clubs were allocated 12 out of the 32 spots in this summer's competition, with four spots reserved for the Champions League winners from 2020-2021 to 2023-24, and eight spots for the next best teams in the competition. Real Madrid's two Champions League victories during the qualifying period led to the qualification of the nine best 'non-winners' for the Club World Cup. Only two teams from each nation can qualify, unless more teams from a country won their continent's equivalent Champions League during the qualifying period. Chelsea and Manchester City, having won the Champions League in the qualifying period, have secured England's two spots in the tournament. Among the teams that did not win the Champions League between 2021 and 2024, Liverpool ranked fifth in performance across Europe. Red Bull Salzburg, the 15th best team not to win the Champions League, was the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the Club World Cup. Despite finishing higher in performance than Salzburg, teams like RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and AC Milan were ineligible to qualify as two teams from their respective countries had already secured spots in the tournament.