What is the FIFA Club World Cup? What is the format of the tournament? Who are the participants?

The final match between Real Madrid and Al -Ain will be held at Zayed Sports City Stadium, UAE. Source: Wikipedia

We all know that Real Madrid will face Al-Ain on the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup final in Abu Dhabi. But, do you know what is the FIFA Club World Cup? What is the format of the tournament? And who are the participants? Well, if you don't know, here is the short explanation of the tournament.

Basically, the FIFA Club World Cup is an attempt from FIFA to determine the best club in the world of the year. The participants of the tournament are winners from each continent confederations plus the winner of the league from the host country.

Under FIFA there are six continent confederations which are CONMEBOL (South America), UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia), CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and Caribia), and OFC (Oceania). So, there are 7 clubs who participate in the FIFA Club World Cup; 6 from each confederation and 1 from the host country. FIFA founded the tournament in 2000.

The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup

There are 7 clubs that participate in the tournament, they are;

  • Real Madrid: UEFA
  • River Plate: CONMEBOL
  • Kashima Antlers: AFC
  • Esperance de Tunis: CAF
  • Guadalajara: CONCACAF
  • Team Wellington: OFC
  • Al-Ain: AFC/Host
Location of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup participants. Source: Wikipedia

But, the quality of the teams is different of course. So, we need to design a fair format to make sure the winners of the tournament is the best team. Each confederation has a different coefficient, UEFA and CONMEBOL are the highest, and OFC is the lowest. And FIFA designed the tournament based on this coefficient. We can see the design below.

The screenshot was taken from Wikipedia

As you can see above, FIFA put the winners from the host country and the winners from OFC at the lowest rank. So they have to compete since the first round. FIFA put the winners from AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF at a higher rank, they have to compete since the second round. As UEFA and CONMEBOL have the highest coefficient, the winners from those confederations are automatically qualified to the semi-finals. Fair enough, isn't it?

Real Madrid is pursuing its 4th title in the tournament. It already won 3 FIFA Club World Cup before. If they win tomorrow, they will surpass Barcelona with the 4th title. It's definitely not easy to win the tournament, because clubs need to win the champions league in their respective confederations first. For Real Madrid to pursue its 4th title, means Real Madrid at least has won 4 the UEFA Champions League title. And we all know it's not easy to win the UEFA Champions League.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have won 3 titles each. Here is the full list of the winners of the tournament:

  • Real Madrid (2014, 2016, 2017)
  • Barcelona (2009, 2011, 2015)
  • Corinthians (2000, 2012)
  • Sao Paulo (2005)
  • Internacional (2006)
  • AC Milan (2007)
  • Manchester United (2008)
  • Internazionale (2010)
  • Bayern Munchen (2013)

The list above also shows the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Europe and in the world.

The Final Match Prediction

So, there are 2 matches that yet to be played tomorrow in Abu Dhabi; the final match (Real Madrid vs Al-Ain) and the match to determine the third place (Kashima Antlers vs River Plate). Who do you think will win the matches?

These months have been a tough time for Real Madrid since bad start this season under Julen Lopetegui and losing Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. Fortunately, Santiago Solari is able to put Madrid back to the right track. Madrid won the semi-final match against Kashima Antlers with 3-1, despite a good performance by the Japanese team. Madrid is undoubtedly the most successful football club in Europe and in the world right now, also in this tournament.

On the other side, Al-Ain is a UAE champion. It is considered the most successful football club in UAE with 13 national titles and 1 AFC Champions League title. But against Madrid, the club is definitely not a favorite to win. I say Real Madrid 3-1 Al-Ain.

As for River Plate against Kashima Antlers, both teams displayed attractive performances on the semi-finals. But I think it will be hard for Kashima Antlers to win against River Plate. The class is simply different between Asia and South America. Of course, anything can happen in a tournament, just like in the semi-final when Al-Ain defeated River Plate. But I say River Plate 2-1 Kashima Antlers.

I think it's good FIFA initiated this tournament. It's interesting to see how champions from all over the world meet and compete in a tournament. Aside from the sports aspect, this tournament can be a way to reduce racialism in football. Just like the FIFA World Cup, we celebrate the event as football fans. Black, white, Asians, Arabs all play together and respect each other.

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