FIFA has named the 12 stadiums in the US that will host matches at the expanded 32- team Club World Cup 2025.
The final will be played at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium which will also host the 2026 World Cup final. The tournament will serve as a dry-run for FIFA’s organising capabilities in the US. FIFA is not working with a local organising committee for the 2025 CWC or the 2026 World Cup, preferring to work directly with cities and stadia.
Six of the stadiums in 2025 will be used as World Cup venues in 2026. Eight of them have capacities of more than 65,000 with the largest being the Rose Bowl in Pasadena at 89,702.
FIFA has focussed its tournament on the East side of the US with two incursions to the west coast, to Seattle and Pasadena.
“The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will feature 12 fantastic stadiums where a new chapter in football’s global history will be written by great players from the 32 best clubs in the world,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
“This new FIFA competition is the only true example in worldwide club football of real solidarity and inclusivity, allowing the best clubs from Africa, Asia, Central and North America and Oceania to play the powerhouses of Europe and South America in an incredible new World Cup which will impact enormously the growth of club football and talent globally.”
Keen to emphasise the sporting integrity of a competition that will be missing a significant number of the world’s best club sides, Infantino continued saying the tournament “is about opportunity and hope for those who need it most, and also about prestige and true football for those who make our sport shine. My thanks go to all. We never discriminate; we include everyone. This is the true spirit of the brand new FIFA Club World Cup.”
With the announcement being made at the Global Citizen Festival in New York, Infantino can perhaps be forgiven for his excitement at mixing the inclusive and non-discriminatory messaging of the festival with the competitive necessity of one team actually being better than another.—Insideworldfootball