What is the Club World Cup, how can you watch it, and who is playing in it? All the key questions are answered here
The 2026 World Cup is what is technically known as the Proper World Cup, for national teams. This summer’s tournament is the Club World Cup, featuring some (with the emphasis on “some”) of the world’s best domestic teams – Real Madrid, PSG, River Plate and the like.
It did! Manchester City are technically the holders. But if there’s one thing Fifa likes, it’s grossly expanded tournaments and the Club World Cup is no exception. Since the tournament started in 2000, it usually featured six or seven teams representing Fifa’s various confederations. The teams would turn up, play a few knockout games in half-full stadiums – and the whole thing would be done in around 10 days with very few people remembering who actually won the thing by the time next year’s edition came around.
Naturally, Fifa decided fans wanted even more of this type of thing and have expanded the tournament: 32 teams will now play 63 games in 11 host cities across the United States over a period of four weeks. Like the most recent World Cup, there will be a group stage with the best two teams from each of the eight groups progressing to the last-16 knockout stage.
