Club World Cup kicks off in Morocco with Al Ahly vs Auckland City

February 1 – African powerhouse Al Ahly of Egypt and OFC champions Auckland City will today kick off the 2022 Club World Cup, with Real Madrid, the European representative, once again the big favourites to win the competition.

The tournament in Morocco will also see the debut of the US’s Seattle Sounders and the roll out of a more transparent VAR system.

The Sounders became the first-ever Major League Soccer outfit to qualify for the tournament when they won the Concacaf Champions League, overcoming the odds and in particular the Mexican clubs. They will make history when they take on the winner of the opening match in the second round, but whoever progresses will face Real Madrid, the hands down favourites to win the Club World Cup for a record eight time, in the last four.

Last season the Spanish club won the Champions League in dramatic fashion, overcoming Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool to lift European club football’s most coveted prize for the 14th time, but opposition in Morocco will be far more modest with only Flamengo, the Copa Libertadores winners, expected to challenge.

Corinthians were the last non-European club to win the tournament when they defeated Chelsea 1-0 in 2012 in Yokohama. Flamengo reached the final in 2019, but a Roberto Firmino goal was enough for Liverpool to win.

In recent years, as the Rio club became dominant in Brazil and on the continent, Flamengo and their fan base have become obsessed with winning the competition, a reflection of how the tournament is still viewed in South America. In Europe, the Club World Cup is largely unloved and considered a burden.

However, in December FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that the competition will be expanded to a 32-team format in 2025. Infantino has viewed an enlarged Club World Cup as a means for FIFA to tap into the lucrative club market, but those plans were put on hold because of Covid-19, the congested calendar and funding issues.

And so for now, the tournament remains a seven-team affair, with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Wydad of Morocco completing the line-up. Matches will be hosted in Tangiers and Rabat and supporters as well as TV audience will benefit from VAR decisions being explained from the pitch. The move is part of a trial by FIFA to provide more transparency over VAR decisions and engage supporters. In a next phase, the world federation also wants to test the system at the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia and the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

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