Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn with Juventus, Wydad Casablanca and Al Ain on Thursday in Group G for next year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Lionel Messi and MLS side Inter Miami are in Group A and will face Al Ahly in the opening match of the expanded 32-team tournament before games against Porto and Palmeiras.
The tournament, featuring top teams from around the world, will be held in 12 stadiums around the country from June 15-July 13 and serve as a dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Among the powerhouse clubs in the field are Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan. There’s also the four highest-ranked teams from South America: Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate and Fluminense.
And Messi’s team, as a representative of the host nation, gets the distinction of playing the first match. It’ll happen at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“It’s about inclusivity, it’s about bringing clubs from all over the world, the 32 best clubs and best players from all over the world together,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
Other opening matchups include: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atletico Madrid and Botafogo playing at Seattle in Group B; Monterrey against Inter Milan in Group E; and Real Madrid facing the Saudi club Al-Hilal in Group H — a showdown of superstars, with Kylian Mbappé for Real Madrid and potentially Neymar for Al-Hilal.
Manchester City won the most recent Club World Cup in 2023 under the old format and are fourth in the Premier League after being hit hard by injuries to key players such as Spain midfielder and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.
City, who this year won an unprecedented fourth straight English Premier League title, will face Wydad Casablanca in their opening match and Al Ain before closing out the group stage against Juventus.
Miami were the penultimate team added to the tournament after winning the Supporters’ Shield for finishing top of the MLS standings in the regular season before losing in the first round of the MLS playoffs last month.
“We always want to play against the best teams in the world,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. “This is an opportunity to show almost 30 years of development in our league. Now, to be able to play against the best in the world in our country, it’s super exciting.”
Brazilian side Botafogo only secured the final spot in the tournament last week by winning their first Copa Libertadores title.
Chelsea will begin Group D play against Leon before facing Flamengo and Esperance, while Group F is made up of Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns.
The club competition uses the traditional 32-team format used by the World Cup from 1998 to 2022. Eight round-robin groups of four teams each were drawn Thursday, with the top two from each group advancing to a knockout bracket of 16.
Europe got 12 spots and South America six to lead the field, while Africa, Asia and North America all got four – with Inter Miami essentially a fifth from North America since it has host status. Oceania got one spot.
Club World Cup draw:
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al-Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.
