Fifa has struck a deal with the European Football Clubs group to increase revenue and the prize pool
More top European sides could feature in the next Club World Cup in 2029 after Fifa agreed to a partnership with the European Football Clubs (EFC).
The next edition is likely to be expanded from 32 to 48 teams after several big clubs saw the huge profits made by the participating teams and lobbied Fifa to increase their chances of taking part. Chelsea earned about £84m for winning the expanded tournament last summer.
According to the current qualification rules, Europe has 12 places at the tournament but Fifa has limited countries to a maximum of two clubs each.
Last summer, this meant that Liverpool, Barcelona and Napoli all missed out despite winning their domestic league titles, as places were reserved for the previous four Champions League winners and the eight highest-ranked clubs in Uefa’s coefficient standings.
European clubs, under the banner of EFC, are understood to want the two-club limit removed, which could benefit teams like Barcelona, Arsenal and Liverpool, who all missed the competition last year.
Relations between Fifa and EFC were fraught due to disagreements over last year’s tournament, as Fifa insisted on organising the expanded Club World Cup on its own. But the world football governing body have now reached an understanding with EFC.
It is understood to have been impressed by EFC’s commercial work with Uefa, where media and sponsorship income for the Champions League and other club competitions is set to rise by about 25% in the next commercial cycle from 2027.
Fifa had problems coming up with funding in the last edition and had to rely on an investment from the Saudi Arabian government, under the umbrella of streaming platform Dazn.
EFC is chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi and now represents all of Europe’s biggest clubs after Real Madrid rejoined earlier this year.
The Spanish club had been suspended for five years because of its role in the proposed European Super League before being readmitted this year after formally leaving the project.
