Can Barça go to the Club World Cup?
The new Club World Cup is just around the corner, and with less than three months to go until the kickoff, FIFA has decided to expel one of the participants: Club León . The reason? The governing body of football has determined that, along with CF Pachuca , they fail to meet the timeshare criteria established by the competition’s regulations. And of course, all eyes are on FC Barcelona , one of the notable absentees in this summer tournament.
The Blaugrana club narrowly missed out on participating in the Club World Cup, but the two spots awarded to LaLiga clubs were awarded to Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid , due to their performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. These two teams had higher UEFA ranking coefficients—119 and 67, respectively—thanks to the 61 points they had over Barça.
The Catalans’ elimination in the quarterfinals of last season’s Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain left them without any chance of participating in this new format. Furthermore, a sum of nearly 35 million euros simply for participating in this competition was lost, which could reach almost 150 million euros if they win the trophy.
Surprise at Can Barça
The truth is that a team will have to take Club León’s spot, which was paired in Group D with Chelsea, EA Tunis, and Flamengo. Does Barça have any chance of participating in the 2025 Club World Cup? According to SPORT, this decision has come as a surprise to the Blaugrana club .
FC Barcelona has practically wrapped up its preseason tour, which this year aims to change continents and appears to be taking place in Asia . In fact, it would also be relevant to hear the opinions of Hansi Flick and his players after one of the busiest seasons in terms of the competition calendar. The rest period has been conspicuous by its absence, with the Copa del Rey, La Liga, Champions League, and Spanish Super Cup, as well as the international commitments that have filled the calendar without a single respite.
It’s clear that Barça didn’t have any intention of participating in the Club World Cup , and they’ve already worked and planned without this option. However, another aspect the board will consider will be the financial aspect.
To do so, however, Barça would need to receive a FIFA proposal to participate, which, at the moment, seems impossible. Although the Catalan club is the notable absentee from this tournament, which hosts the world’s best clubs—with Liverpool’s permission— there are several indications that other candidates could take the place of the expelled Club León .
The arguments
First, it’s logical to think that the Mexican team’s replacement will be from its own confederation . In this case, the third-highest team in CONCACAF is América , also from Mexico.
On the other hand, if FIFA were to allow a 13th European club to enter, Liverpool would be in a better position , occupying 8th place in the UEFA rankings with 76 points. In fact, they have more than Porto, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus, and Salzburg; however, the Reds have been affected by the restriction of a maximum of two clubs per country: Manchester City and Chelsea, who occupy first and fifth place for having lifted the “big-eared” trophy in the last five editions.
If FIFA were to allow another European club to qualify ahead of a CONCACAF club, but maintain the limit of two clubs per country, the team that would fill the vacant spot would be Ajax Amsterdam , who are 19th with 39 points, being the team with the highest coefficient from a non-participating country, followed by Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and Club Brugge of Belgium.
So, here we’ve reviewed a whole series of factors that make it clear that FC Barcelona is virtually certain to be in the 2025 Club World Cup . While Barça’s absence is notable, there are other teams with priority access to the tournament based on their own merits.
Source: SPORT
