FIFA announces 2025 Club World Cup venues; New Jersey will host the final

The revamped 32-team tournament will be held at 12 venues across the United States, one year before hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

World football’s governing body has announced that the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final will be held in New Jersey, home of the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced the venue roster for the renewed tournament on Saturday.

The expanded 32-team tournament, featuring leading clubs from around the world, will be held in the United States from June 15 to July 13.

A total of 12 venues will be used for the tournament, and only two of them will be on the West Coast: the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, and Lumen Field in Seattle.

The tournament will take place at the same time as the regional CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will be held primarily on the West Coast.

The open-air stadium, which opened in 2010 and has a capacity of 82,500, hosted the Copa America Centenario final in 2016, with Chile’s Lionel Messi denying Argentina for the second time in the penalty shoot-out. It will also host the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.

Other venues that will host the games are Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), and Audi Field (Washington, DC).

Coming to the USA in 2025 #TakeItToTheWorld | #FIFACWC pic.twitter.com/ocAOgy87Fl

— FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) September 28, 2024

The Club World Cup will feature championship-winning teams from each of FIFA’s continental confederations.

The draw for the tournament will be held in December and 30 of the 32 places have already been secured through the qualification procedure.

The 12 European teams that have qualified for the tournament include Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, while the six South American teams include Argentina’s River Plate and Boca Juniors and Brazil’s Flamengo.

“This new FIFA competition is the only true example of true solidarity and inclusivity in club football worldwide, allowing the best clubs from Africa, Asia, Central and North America and Oceania to face the powerhouses of Europe and South America in an incredible new World Cup.” Infantino said this would greatly impact the growth of club football and talent around the world.

The tournament will be seen as an important test ahead of the 2026 World Cup and will focus on security issues following crowd problems at the Copa America matches to be played at stadiums in Charlotte and Miami in July.

FIFA has yet to announce any broadcast deals or sponsorship agreements for the tournament, and the competition has faced some opposition within the game.

FIFPRO and the European Leagues body have lodged a joint complaint with the European Commission against FIFA over the tournament’s inclusion in the international match calendar.

Opponents of the new tournament said it added more intensity to an already crowded schedule and increased players’ workload.

Manchester City, who beat Brazilian Fluminense in the final in Saudi Arabia, won the tournament, which included seven teams in the knockout stage of the last edition of the Club World Cup.

FIFA plans to hold the expanded tournament every four years, but a host for 2029 has not yet been selected.