April 17 – Barcelona’s elimination from the Champions League on Tuesday had the effect of sending Atletico Madrid into the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup in the United States next year.
Europe will have 12 teams at the month-long tournament and Barcelona needed to reach the final of this season’s Champions League in order to qualify as long as Atletico lost to Dortmund.
But because both Spanish clubs were knocked out, Atletico gain a place based on rankings to take the second CWC entry from Spain, the 22nd team to qualify for the tournament that will be played in cities across the US from June 15-July 13 next year.
FIFA expects to pay tens of millions of dollars in prize money to each team but Gianni Infantino’s pet project will be somewhat devalued by missing the likes not only of Barca but other big hitters including Manchester United, Liverpool, AC Milan, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Christiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.
In the lineup from Europe will be the past three Champions League winners – Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City – plus Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Inter Milan, Porto, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica and Juventus.
The last European entry will be either Arsenal, if they win the Champions League, or Salzburg from Austria.
Three Brazilian teams – Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminense – have qualified as Copa Libertadores winners since 2021. Argentina’s great rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors are likely to qualify as high-ranked teams in South America’s quota of six entries.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1713944835labto1713944835ofdlr1713944835owedi1713944835sni@o1713944835fni1713944835