Everything you need to know about the Club World Cup

After the mid-year announcement of the format change for 2021, the UAE is preparing to organize a new edition in December

The Club World Cup, which at 2021 will change its current format, is preparing for a new edition, which in this 2018 will be held in the United Arab Emirates between December 12 and 22, and for which the current Real Madrid champion, already is classified, along with Chivas de Guadalajara of Mexico, Team Wellington of New Zealand and Al Ain of the host country.

Leer en español: Todo lo que debes sobre el Mundial de Clubes

While waiting for the three remaining places, LatinAmerican Post will give you some details that you should know about the traditional end-of-year club event. The current two-time champion, Real Madrid, will try to win the crown for the third year in a row, after winning his place as European champion by beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final in Kiev, Ukraine, in the final, as is public domain.

In turn, for Concacaf, the representative will be Chivas de Guadalajara of Mexico, after proclaiming champions of the Concachampions in April, in a very tough final against Toronto FC, which should have been decided by penalties as the AlAire of Chile recalls, while The Bolavip does the same with Team Wellington, Oceania champion, who won the final series to the Lautoka of Fiji Islands with a global score of 10-3.

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From the first match

As Gol.com indicates, the only game that is already known who will play it is the one that marks the premiere of the contest, and corresponding to the previous phase between Al-Ain and Team Wellington. The winner of said commitment will be the first quarterfinalist. In the case of Al-Ain, was the first classified to the tournament after winning 0-4 to Al Nasr and crowned champion of the League of United Arab Emirates, according to Fifa.com.

The same portal explains that the quarterfinals of this World Cup are not the traditional four-game, but only two. That is to say, the winner of Team Wellington and Al Ain will face the representative of Africa (not yet determined), while Chivas de Concacaf will do the same against the Asian champion (not yet determined) and from there, the winners will come out who will play the semifinals against the champion of Conmebol (not yet determined, but will be Brazilian or Argentine) and against Real Madrid respectively.

Fifa.com clarifies that the event consists of eight games in 11 days and that this time it will be played in two scenarios, that of Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza Bin Zayed in Al Ain. The portal advanced in May the possibility of buying tickets through VISA for 15 days, but already, this process ended and the tickets are sold to the general public.

European domain

The powerful European clubs commanded with ease the department of titles of the contest since the Club World format was definitively established in 2006. For example, Real Madrid will look for its third title in a row, after beating the Brazilian Gremio last year. 1-0 and with a goal by Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo free kick, Infobae recalled.

The same portal adds that those of the old continent accumulate 10 crowns, adding three of Real Madrid (2014, 16 and 17) and three of his archrival Barcelona (2009, 11 and 15), along with those of Milan (2007), Inter (2010), Manchester United (2008) and Bayern Munich (2013). In turn, South America accumulates only two pennants, both with Brazilian teams: Corinthians (2012) and Internacional de Porto Alegre in 2006.

Latest editions

If everything is given as stipulated, this will be the penultimate edition of the Club World Cup with the current format. ElUniverso.com published that FIFA proposed a renewed version of the tournament, which would begin in 2021 with the inclusion of the best placed of the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores of the four recent years.

For that reason, the new event would be held every four years (like the FIFA World Cup) and not annually as it happens today, in addition, the calendar would be much broader with 31 matches, which, in turn, would It would translate IGNORE INTO much more daring commercial strategies since the income figures that are handled, should range between 650 and one billion dollars, the same media reported in its article.

The World Cup would become a championship with representatives from South America and Europe mostly, plus two from Asia, Concacaf and Africa, and one, or none from Oceania. The participants would be distributed in eight groups of three, of which the first classified would directly access the quarterfinals.

ElUniverso.com added that the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has not hidden his desire to change the format of the competition held annually. According to the corresponding document presented at the FIFA Council that was held in Bogota in March 2018, the contest could be played between June and July.

The aforementioned portal concludes by saying that Infantino's goal is for the competition to gain international prestige and be equated with the World Cup selections, for example, and with the advantage (if played mid-year) of not interfering with the calendars of the leagues

LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano

Translated from "Todo lo que debes sobre el Mundial de Clubes"

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