International

FIFA mulls proposal for 24-team Club World Cup; Concacaf would get 3 slots

FIFA President Gianni Infantino

A proposal to expand the Club World Cup to a 24-team tournament will be put up to vote at FIFA on Friday.


The new tournament would be projected to include three teams from Concacaf, although available information does not indicate how teams would qualify.


According to a report from the Associated Press, the proposed expanded Club World Cup would be scheduled to take place in June 2021, in the slot where the Confederations Cup would have taken place. Recent reports have indicated the Confederations Cup, a competition between confederation champions on the national team front that previously served as a trial run for the following year's World Cup host, will not take place any longer.


The current Club World Cup has been structured on a similar scale, with club teams representing the regional champions around the world coming together to play in a short tournament. Like Europe and South America, Concacaf have had one representative annually, with the Club World Cup customarily hosted in Asia.


The champion of the Concacaf Champions League represents the region in the current Club World Cup structure. The two occasions when MLS teams won the predecessor to the Concacaf Champions League, D.C. United in 1998 and LA Galaxy in 2000, the Club World Cup was not held at all.