Hard Rock Stadium named one of 12 venues for 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Here are details
South Florida soccer fans got exciting news on Saturday evening: Hard Rock Stadium was confirmed as one of 12 venues that will host matches during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup next summer.
Thirty-two of the best club teams in the world will play in the event, which will be held from June 15 to July 13. The final will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The other 10 venues are: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle), and Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).
It is unknown which games or how many will be held at Hard Rock Stadium, which also was a host venue for the 2024 Copa America and will host seven matches at the 2026 World Cup.
“Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and in 2025 a new era for club football will kick off when FIFA stages the greatest, most inclusive and merit-based global club competition right here in the United States,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The announcement was made at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York while simultaneously announcing FIFA’s new four-year partnership with Global Citizen to mobilize football fans globally to help end extreme poverty and provide access to education for millions of children.
The expanded Club World Cup will include 32 teams. Twelve will be European clubs, six South American, four from CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), four from Africa, four from Asia, one from Oceania, and the host country (USA) gets the final spot.
It has not been announced yet how the host spot will be determined, but assuming it is the 2024 Supporters Shield winner or MLS Cup winner, Inter Miami has an excellent chance. The other open spot will go to the winner of the 2024 Copa Libertadores, the South American club championship.
Among the 30 club teams that have already qualified are Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Flamengo, Palmeiras, Seattle Sounders, Monterrey, Pachuca, Al Hilal, and Al Ain.
Other teams that have qualified are Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad (Morocco), ES Tunis (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Ulsan HD FC (South Korea), Porto (Portugal), Benfica (Portugal), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Atletico Madrid (Spain), FC Salzburg (Austria), Club Leon (Mexico), Auckland City (New Zealand), Fluminense (Brazil).
The draw will be held in December.
Further information regarding the draw, which will see the 32 best clubs in the world divided into eight groups of four, will be released in the coming months. The tournament match schedule will be announced shortly after the draw.
Fans can visit FIFA.com/tickets to register for FIFA Club World Cup 2025 ticket and hospitality information.
This story was originally published September 28, 2024 at 6:43 PM.