PETALING JAYA: Having a Malaysian representative playing with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid on the first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup stage in the future could become a reality in the future.
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) are likely to take up the gauntlet and this is after the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) listed the Southern Tigers among the top 12 clubs in the region ahead of the expanded Club World Cup to be held at the United States in 2025, to be known as Mundial de Clubes FIFA.
According to the FIFA list, JDT are ranked in 11th place and tied on 38 points with 12th placed Daegu of South Korea and Iran’s Persepolis in 10th place while Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia top the rankings with 97 points.
Four slots will be allocated for the Asian continent for 2025, namely the three winners of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) top tier club competitions, AFC Champions League and one slot through the rankings in the competitions.
2021 AFC Champions League winners Al Hilal SFC and 2022 edition champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan have confirmed their slots for the tournament scheduled from June 15 to July 13.
The two clubs will be joined by the rebranded 2023-24 AFC Champions League Elite winners and the best ranked club excluding the three champions, to challenge the best clubs from six continental confederations in 2025.
Ten-time Super League champions JDT, who completed their double-quadruple after winning the Super League, Malaysia Cup, FA Cup and Charity Shield again this season, have a slim chance to make the cut as they did not reach this season’s AFC Champions League knockout stage after finishing third in the group stage recently.
Apart from four Asian clubs, the competition will also feature an Oceania club; four from Africa; four clubs from the North and Central America, and Caribbean confederations; six from South America; and 12 from Europe, including UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City.FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the Club World Cup will be an open competition based on sporting merit that will play a key role as part of our efforts to make football truly global.
“Clubs play a fundamental role in world football and the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be a major milestone in providing clubs from all confederations with a fitting stage on which to shine at the highest level of the game,” he said in a statement.
As the Club World Cup will be held every four years starting 2025, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup will be played annually from 2024, with the winners of an intercontinental playoff between clubs from the other confederations facing the UEFA Champions League winners in the final.
