Enyimba, Remo Stars could face Manchester City, Real Madrid If..
Nigerian clubs Enyimba FC and Remo Stars will have opportunity to face European Giants Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea etc If the can win the CAF Champions League title.
This is as a result of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup which will bring together 32 teams from different continents to battle for the remodeled tournament.
Enyimba FC and Remo Stars will represent Nigeria at the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League and will get a chance to join already qualified past winners Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and Al Ahly of Egypt at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
In a statement released on Friday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino unveiled the plans and format for the new Club World Cup format after the FIFA Council had unanimously approved the key principles of the new 32-team FIFA Club World Cup™, which will be played every four years as of June 2025.
Infantino said he was excited at the birth of the upcoming event, which he believes will represent the “pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football.”
Already, the United States of America have been announced as hosts for the Inaugural edition, FIFA Identifying them as possessing the necessary infrastructure and massive local interest for the tournament to berth gracefully.
2025 FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION CRITERIA/FORMAT
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In the event of a club winning two or more editions of the confederation’s premier club competition during the 2021-2024 period, a club ranking calculated according to sporting criteria will be used to grant access.
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A cap of two clubs per country will be applied to the access list with an exception in cases where more than two clubs from the same country win the confederation’s premier club competition over the four-year period.
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The tournament will have a group phase comprising eight groups of four teams each, with the top two qualifying for the last 16.
Based on the listed qualification criteria’s, Nigeria Premier League Champions Enyimba International FC and Remo Stars FC will pick Africa’s third slot with a 2023/2024 CAF Champions League title.
Like Africa’s Wydad Casablanca and Al Ahly, UEFA Champions League’s last three winners, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea FC are already certain to be part of the 2025 FIFA World Cup.
The last edition of the FIFA Club World Cup to be played with the old format will take place in Saudi Arabia in December 2023. Africa will be represented by Egypt’s Al Ahly .
