FIFA's newest tournament gets underway in Miami on Saturday night, as Inter Miami and Al Ahly kick off the revamped Club World Cup.

Once famously dubbed a "mistake" by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the expanded Club World Cup is Gianni Infantino's latest gamble to boost his political influence and generate significant revenue.

A total of 32 teams will compete in the tournament.

List of qualified teams:

Europe: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Red Ball Salzburg, Atletico Madrid
Oceania: Auckland City
South America: Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Botafogo (Copa Libertadores winner)
North America: Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, Pachuca, Inter Miami (host nation slot), Los Angeles FC
Africa: Al Ahly, Wydad, Esperance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns
Asia: Al Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Ulsan HD

GROUPS:

Group A: Palmeiras (Brz), Porto (Por), Al Ahly (Egy), Inter Miami (USA)
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain (Fra), Atletico Madrid (Esp), Botafogo (Brz), Seattle Sounders (USA)
Group C: Bayern Munich (Ger), Benfica (Por), Boca Juniors (Arg), Auckland City (Nzl)
Group D: Flamengo (Brz), Chelsea (Eng), Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tun), Los Angeles FC (USA)
Group E: River Plate (Arg), Inter Milan (Ita), CF Monterrey (Mex), Urawa Red Diamonds (Jpn)
Group F: Fluminense (Brz), Borussia Dortmund (Ger), Ulsan HD (Kor), Mamelodi Sundowns (Rsa)
Group G: Man City (Eng), Juventus (Ita), Wydad AC (Mor), Al Ain (UAE)
Group H: Real Madrid (Esp), FC Salzburg (Aut), Al Hilal (Rsa), CF Pachuca (Mex)

Format
A group stage composed of eight groups of four teams per group playing in a single-game round-robin format.

The top two teams per group progress to the round of 16.

A direct single-match knockout stage from the round of 16 to the final.

No third-place play-off.

Prize money 

The winners of the Club World Cup will receive up to £97m ($125m) from FIFA.

Prize money of £774m ($1bn) is to be shared between the 32 clubs - with a £406m ($525m) participation fee shared based on sporting and commercial criteria, and £368m ($475m) shared based on sporting performance.

FIFA are not keeping any revenue and it expects to share another £200m ($250m) with clubs across the world as solidarity payments.

New innovations

Referees at this month's FIFA Club World Cup will wear 'body cams' with the footage used in broadcasts of the game -- but only if the images are of non-controversial incidents.

The match referees in the tournament will wear a small camera protruding from their earpiece which will be able to generate video from the referees point of view.

But while broadcasters will be able to offer unique angles on goals and saves -- as well as close-up live video and sound from the pre-match coin toss -- viewers won't get to see penalty decisions or other disputable moments from the new camera angle.

"The objective is to offer the TV viewers a new experience," said Pierluigi Collina, the Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.

Collina said that IFAB, which sets the laws of the game had allowed a trial of the technology and suggested that footage of controversies might be part of a later phase in the future.

"Let's do things step by step. At the moment...this is a trial. We need to do something new and the simpler the better. So we fixed some rules within a protocol. We will offer these images in the future? Maybe when we learn to run, maybe not, maybe we will do," he said.

The live images will be broadcast via a private 5G network from the ref to the match production team, said FIFA Director of Innovation, Johannes Holzmuller, who said the live aspect would only be available in the six NFL stadiums being used for the tournament.

What Club World Cup fans will be able to see are the VAR reviews, as seen by referees on the pitchside monitor, which will be broadcast on giant screens in the stadium.

That video will then be followed by the referee announcing the final decision over the public address system and the television broadcast.

The tournament will also see the use of 'enhanced semi-automatic offside' technology which will use 16 cameras linked to AI technology and algorithms which will send an audio message to the assistant referee when an offside player touches the ball.

The system will likely see the flag raised earlier for offside and reduce cases of play continuing after a clear offside until a later VAR review.

The tournament will also be an early introduction of the new law that goalkeepers have eight seconds to release the ball after picking it up - or be punished with a corner.

It replaces the previous law that keepers had six seconds to release the ball or give up an indirect free-kick.

The goalkeepers will be shown a five second warning by the referee who will count down showing the fingers of one hand.

Five of the stars missing at the Club World Cup

FIFA's inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the United States has one billion dollars of prize money on the line but will be missing some of the game's star names.

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Liverpool finished as English champions, but like Spain's Barcelona and Italy's Napoli, will not be at the Club World Cup, because of the convoluted qualification process.

That means Egyptian winger Salah, who broke the Premier League record for goal involvements, with 29 strikes and 18 assists, misses out.

After a tiring season in which he faded in the latter months Salah might not be too upset about having a summer off. The winger posted a photo of himself sunbathing by the beach on Instagram.

However it will be a shame that African football icon Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and others miss out on the chance of a potential rematch against their Champions League conquerors Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool transfer target Florian Wirtz will also be absent, as his side Bayer Leverkusen did not qualify.

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
No player in world football this season has offered more excitement than Barcelona's 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal.

The Spain winger has been in sensational form for his club this season and is one of the candidates to win the Ballon d'Or.

Yamal's thrilling dribbling and penchant for the spectacular make him one of the biggest draws in world football at the moment.

He is often compared to former Barcelona great Lionel Messi, but because of the Spanish champions' absence, may have missed out on his only chance to face the Argentina star, who will be there with Inter Miami.

Barcelona's Raphinha, midfield maestro Pedri and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski are others who will be missed.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr)
Messi will also not go up against his long-time rival Ronaldo in the US.

The Portuguese striker, 40, was reported to be looking for a way to play in the tournament.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had suggested Ronaldo might move from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr to a team who had reached the event, saying that "discussions" were being held over it.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo, who won the Nations League with Portugal last weekend, indicated after the game however he was set to stay at Al Nassr.

"Some teams reached out to me," the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star revealed last Saturday on the eve of the Nations League final.

"Some made sense and others did not, but you can't try and do everything. You can't catch every ball."

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Champions League semi-finalists Arsenal are another team to miss out and after finishing the season trophyless, the Club World Cup would have been a chance to win some silverware.

England international Saka's only club trophy, excluding the FA Community Shield, was an FA Cup win with Arsenal in 2020.

Mikel Arteta's side showed this season they have improved to the point where they are in contention for major honours, including knocking out Real Madrid in the Champions League, but came up just short.

For a player of his quality, who has spent six seasons playing regularly at the top level, Saka could do with expanding his medal collection.

Arsenal will be disappointed to miss out on the prize money too, as they try to overhaul Liverpool and Manchester City, who have dominated the English game in recent seasons.

Neymar (Santos)
Brazilian icon Neymar struggled with injury at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and returned to Santos in January 2025, hoping to get fit and firing ahead of next summer's World Cup.

The 33-year-old forward, despite fading with age, is still one of the biggest names in the game and his absence is also a blow in a commercial sense.

"Neymar, what can I say about him? He's an outstanding player, who, for me, in my football cycle, is in the top three, with Cristiano and Messi," said Brazil midfielder Casemiro.

With organisers struggling to sell tickets, Neymar's presence would have been a boon.

VENUES

Tournament takes place in the United States across 12 stadiums:

Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA
TQL Stadium – Cincinnati, OH
Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC
Rose Bowl Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
Hard Rock Stadium – Miami, FL
GEODIS Park – Nashville, TN
MetLife Stadium – New York New Jersey
Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL
Inter&Co Stadium – Orlando, FL
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Lumen Field – Seattle, WA
Audi Field – Washington, D.C.