Tournament Home on FIFA.com M1 | 01.02.23 | Al Ahly - Auckland City (First Round) M2 | 04.02.23 | Seattle Sounders - Winner M1 (Second Round) M3 | 04.02.23 | Wydad Casablanca - Al Hilal (Second Round) M4 | 07.02.23 | CR Flamengo - Winner M3 (Semi-Final) M5 | 08.02.23 | Winner M2 - Real Madrid (Semi-Final) M6 | 11.02.23 | Loser M5 - Loser M4 (Match for 3rd Place) M7 | 11.02.23 | Winner M5 - Winner M4 (Final) TV Coverage / Match Schedule / Regulations Final Venue: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium UEFA: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Spain) CONMEBOL: Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (Brazil) CONCACAF: Seattle Sounders Football Club (USA) AFC: Al Hilal Saudi Football Club (Saudi Arabia)* CAF: Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco) OFC: Auckland City Football Club (New Zealand) Host: Al Ahly Sporting Club (Egypt)** *Nominated by the AFC as the ongoing Champions League has yet to conclude. **As Morocco cannot have two participants, Al Ahly take the host spot as CAF runner-up.
Tournament Winners & Statistics: Intercontinental Cup 1960 Real Madrid (ESP) 1961 Peñarol (URU) 1962 Santos (BRA) 1963 Santos (BRA) 1964 Inter Milan (ITA) 1965 Inter Milan (ITA) 1966 Peñarol (URU) 1967 Racing Club (ARG) 1968 Estudiantes (ARG) 1969 AC Milan (ITA) 1970 Feyenoord (NED) 1971 Nacional (URU) 1972 Ajax Amsterdam (NED) 1973 Independiente (ARG) 1974 Atlético Madrid (ESP) 1975 No competition 1976 Bayern Munich (GER) 1977 Boca Juniors (ARG) 1978 No competition 1979 Olimpia (PAR) Toyota Cup 1980 Nacional (URU) 1981 Flamengo (BRA) 1982 Peñarol (URU) 1983 Grêmio (BRA) 1984 Independiente (ARG) 1985 Juventus (ITA) 1986 River Plate (ARG) 1987 FC Porto (POR) 1988 Nacional (URU) 1989 AC Milan (ITA) 1990 AC Milan (ITA) 1991 Red Star Belgrade (SER) 1992 São Paulo (BRA) 1993 São Paulo (BRA) 1994 Vélez Sarsfield (ARG) 1995 Ajax Amsterdam (NED) 1996 Juventus (ITA) 1997 Borussia Dortmund (GER) 1998 Real Madrid (ESP) 1999 Manchester United (ENG) 2000 Boca Juniors (ARG) 2001 Bayern Munich (GER) 2002 Real Madrid (ESP) 2003 Boca Juniors (ARG) 2004 FC Porto (POR) [Merger with Club World Cup*] Club World Cup 2000 Corinthians (BRA) 2001 No competition 2002 No competition 2003 No competition 2004 No competition [Merger with Toyota Cup*] 2005 São Paulo (BRA) 2006 Internacional (BRA) 2007 AC Milan (ITA) 2008 Manchester United (ENG) 2009 FC Barcelona (ESP) 2010 Inter Milan (ITA) 2011 FC Barcelona (ESP) 2012 Corinthians (BRA) 2013 Bayern Munich (GER) 2014 Real Madrid (ESP) 2015 FC Barcelona (ESP) 2016 Real Madrid (ESP) 2017 Real Madrid (ESP) 2018 Real Madrid (ESP) 2019 Liverpool (ENG) 2020 Bayern Munich (GER) 2021 Chelsea (ENG) Clubs with Multiple Titles 7 - Real Madrid (ESP) 4 - AC Milan (ITA) 4 - Bayern Munich (GER) 3 - Boca Juniors (ARG) 3 - FC Barcelona (ESP) 3 - Inter Milan (ITA) 3 - Nacional (URU) 3 - Peñarol (URU) 3 - São Paulo (BRA) 2 - Ajax Amsterdam (NED) 2 - Corinthians (BRA) 2 - FC Porto (POR) 2 - Independiente (ARG) 2 - Juventus (ITA) 2 - Manchester United (ENG) 2 - Santos (BRA) Titles by Association 11 - Spain 10 - Brazil 9 - Argentina 9 - Italy 6 - Uruguay 5 - Germany 4 - England 3 - Netherlands 2 - Portugal 1 - Paraguay 1 - Serbia Titles by Confederation 35 - UEFA 26 - CONMEBOL Note: FIFA has recognized all winners of the Intercontinental/Toyota Cup, played between 1960 and 2004, as club world champions.
"Emerging Confederations" Top Three Placements: AFC (Total 7) 2nd: 2016, 2018 3rd: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015 CONCACAF (Total 6) 2nd: 2020 3rd: 2000, 2005, 2012, 2017, 2019 CAF (Total 5) 2nd: 2010, 2013 3rd: 2006, 2020, 2021 OFC (Total 1) 3rd: 2014
Auckland City are doing what they usually do (and have to do as a semi-pro side), they travelled early and are playing several friendlies to get ready. Currently based in Barcelona, they got three friendlies lined up: - Reus FC Reddis (Spain, 6th Tier) / Auckland lost 1-0 - Jeonbuk Motors (K-League) / Auckland lost 1-0 - FC Barcelona B / 25.02.23 For the longtime followers, Auckland and Al Hilal changed their logos. Both are an upgrade IMO. FIFA have posted this video on the 2021 CWC.
TV coverage in the US coming out in bits and pieces: The opener and quarterfinals will be shown on FOX Sports 2 and FOX Deportes. The latter already has Real Madrid's semifinal on their programming as well; no word yet on where the English-language broadcast will land (i.e. whether it will remain on FS2 or get promoted to FS1).
Auckland City drew Barcelona B 1:1 in their last preparation match. Seattle ➡️ Marbella 🤩 pic.twitter.com/0KALLEhSTU— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 22, 2023 The Seattle Sounders are also in Spain, and will play a couple of friendlies as well. Fun fact: Toni Kroos has a chance to extend his CWC tally to 6 titles. Crazy! Not so fun fact: A car with an Al Ahly sticker backed into me at the mall today. That now puts them in my bad book, in spite of being coached by Grasshoppers and Switzerland legend Marcel Koller.
Real Madrid Schedule: 26/01 - Atletico Madrid (H) - Copa del Rey 29/01 - Real Sociedad (H) - La Liga 02/02 - Valencia (H) - La Liga 05/02 - Mallorca (A) - La Liga 08/02 - CWC Semis 11/02 - CWC Final/3rd Place 15/02 - Elche (H) - La Liga A tight schedule but with a lot of home games.
Tickets for the tournament have been crazy. No announcement for weeks- then just randomly put them on sale and despite me looking several times a day were ‘sold out’ for Rabat matches when I got in. Has anyone actually bought any Rabat based matches? I’m looking for the final and I’m assuming they haven’t gone on sale online yet. Can’t find any information anywhere- although the ticket site says there are ticket centres so perhaps they are prioritising locals and selling them from there. Still- with it being Fifa they probably won’t let people inside the ticket office and for VIPs only…. Fifa keep saying how they have changed etc but that’s just not the case- the last few months have proven they don’t care about the fans. The tons of empty seats at WC matches- the app fiasco - the other issues in Qatar now this. From all (non hospitality) tickets being app in the WC to all tickets to be paper and collected in Morocco - and the lack of info plus no availability for Rabat- come on guys this isn’t good enough! They just don’t care.
The organization of this CWC has been absolutely shambolic. Maybe worst in FIFA history for any competition. From host/schedule announcement, to venue announcement, to ticket sales. Just about all clubs involved could have had decent to good traveling support, but how are fans supposed to plan ahead when the tournament isn't even confirmed with under two months before kick-off? It's ridiculous. I'm sure a decent amount of Flamengo fans will still make it but for the others? - not so much. It's like FIFA forgot about the CWC leading up to Qatar 2022 or they were content to pause the annual edition until the expansion in 2025 (only for Conmebol and/or Real Madrid to pressure them?) Whatever the reasons. It's a joke.
Per ECS leadership, about 300 Sounders fans are getting tickets through the team. I know there are at least a few other smaller groups that have gotten tickets independently for the first match - haven't heard of anyone getting any tickets for the matches in Rabat. This could have been 3000 (OK, maybe 1000) had it been possible to plan travel even just 6 months ago. As it is, I'm only able to go because it's a (relatively) short, cheap flight with no major time difference, squarely in the "lastminute vakantie" logistical sweet spot. But let's be honest, this instance of the tournament is really just a cadeau to Morocco for their role as darlings of the world cup, and to Real, whose support for future CWC expansion plans is critical. Supporters are 100% an afterthought.
I'm waiting for this Clubs World Cup especially because I see all these 3 clubs, Al Ahly, Wydad and Al Hilal with real chances to make great matches against the giants. As the current world ranking says, Flamengo (2nd) and Real Madrid (7th) are the favorites for the trophy (also, the competition format helps them minimize the risks that can eliminate them before the final). Al Ahly (11th), Al Hilal (22nd) and Wydad (29th) have their chances, especially for the latter, who we know have the most popular fan base/ultras and have the home country advantage. Auckland City (170th) and Seattle Sounders (179th) can have a nice experience there but without high expectations. The final positions I see there are Auckland City in 7th place, Seattle Sounders in 6th place (losing to Al Ahly in the second round and final match for 5th place) and Real Madrid winning the trophy. Al Ahly will play the 3rd place final, but against whom? If Wydad beat Al Hilal, I'm pretty sure they can also beat Palmeiras in a 'volcano' atmosphere. But if the Moroccans lose the first game, I don't see Al Hilal beating Palmeiras. Oh, or maybe Auckland City will do the surprise again... as in past, they finished 3rd in a year
I often wonder if FIFA gave this CWC to Morocco with Al Ahly in mind. At least as a partial consideration. For background, Al Ahly were caught in an impossible situation last year where the Africa Cup of Nations final (with Egypt) overlapped with their second round CWC match against Monterrey. As CAF had already set the AFCON dates FIFA was to blame for the overlap when scheduling the CWC. Of course Al Ahly famously overcame Monterrey with about eight players missing, but those players barely joined their teammates in time for the semis against Palmeiras. If memory serves right hardly any of the AFCON players started in that match and instead joined play as substitutes, once Palmeiras was already in control of the game. So giving the 2022 CWC to Morocco ensured that Al Ahly (as CAF runner-up) would participate and that could be seen as a "make up" gesture for the 2021 CWC.
FIFA eliminated the 5th place match for this CWC. For Seattle, Wydad, and Al Hilal it could be "one and done" in this competition. Also, Palmeiras are not playing. It seems like Seattle's two preparation matches are on the same day with different line-ups.
Actually, these matches were played yesterday: Seattle Sounders - Hammarby IF (Sweden) 2:3 Seattle Sounders - Wolfsberger AC (Austria) 0:0
Participating clubs ranked as per their year of foundation: 1. CR Flamengo (1895; 127 yrs)* 2. Real Madrid (1902; 120 yrs) 3. Al Ahly (1907; 115 yrs) 4. Wydad AC (1937; 85 yrs) 5. Al Hilal (1957; 65 yrs) 6. Seattle Sounders (1973; 49 yrs)** 7. Auckland City (2004; 19 yrs) *Flamengo was founded as a rowing club in 1895 (hence the name "regatas"). The football department was founded in 1911. ** Today's MLS entity was technically founded in 2007, but the Sounders history reaches all the way back to 1973. And since such historic ties are rare in MLS I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. Sorry Auckland fans!
As a general observation, with the exception of the Seattle Sounders, we are treated to some real "royalty" from each confederation in terms of club profile and reputation. Four of the seven participants are record winners in their confederation, and of course Real Madrid are record club world champion. Real Madrid Club World Champions (7 - Record); UEFA Champions League (14 - Record) CR Flamengo Club World Champions (1); Copa Libertadores (3) Al Ahly CWC Bronze (3); CAF Champions League (10 - Record); Afro-Asian Cup (1) Al Hilal AFC Champions League (4 - Record) Wydad AC CAF Champions League (3); Afro-Asian Cup (1) Auckland City CWC Bronze (1); OFC Champions League (10 - Record) Seattle Sounders CONCACAF Champions League (1)
MLS is a very young league that has had to fight tooth and nail to get to this point, in a country that has historically been very hostile to Soccer. Even to this day, a significant number of Americans still think that Soccer is a "Communist conspiracy" and "Un-American", which is why Soccer has a very short history here. It's almost like there's this strange sort of pride in their ignorance of the sport. It's really, really strange. If not for this strange cultural hostility towards Soccer here, there would've been much more history than that.
As someone who attended Dallas Burn matches at the Cotton Bowl as long ago as 1997, I am well aware of the struggles of the sport there. But football (soccer) didn't commence with MLS. Looking back further, the refusal by the old NASL to truly be a part of the sport by declining to participate in Concacaf events (or the US Open Cup for that matter) was very much self-inflicted.
It all starts tomorrow with Al Ahly - Auckland City. Al Ahly are overwhelming favorites but of course Auckland had their "Cinderella" bronze medal performance in no other place than Morocco in 2014. Looking over the roster I see the standout player from back then, Emiliano Tade, is back with the team at the crisp age of 34. Both clubs are regular CWC participants but have so far only met once - a long time ago. Al Ahly won 2:0 in the 2006 CWC first round. That was before a host team was introduced. [EDIT] Auckland called up another player from 2014, 39-year old Takuya Iwata!
Yep Bein isn't showing it either. Just realized that the African Nations Championship is on at the moment. Incredibly, neither Egypt nor Morocco are in it as Morocco withdrew and Egypt didn't qualify. But could have been a bit of a mess had they still been in it...
Seems like Al Ahly took the lead just before halftime. Still can't get anything to work, including "creative" ways to watch. Is FIFA+ also geo-blocked in Qatar @glennaldo_sf ?