FIFA President tells 49th UEFA Ordinary Congress that the FIFA Club World Cup provides “citizens of all the countries” with the opportunity to have a world champion
32-team tournament in the United States this year will see all six confederations and more than 50 global nationalities represented
Mr Infantino tells delegates in Belgrade, Serbia of expansion ambitions for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and Olympic Football Tournament to “foster even more the women’s football movement”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said the new FIFA Club World Cup gives “citizens of all the countries” the unique opportunity to become world champions in a speech to the 49th UEFA Ordinary Congress in Belgrade, Serbia. When the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup kicks off in the United States on 14 June, 32 of the best club teams on the planet will compete to be crowned the first true club world champions of the beautiful game.
Only eight countries have ever won the FIFA World Cup™. However, with all six confederations represented at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and clubs boasting cosmopolitan squads that reflect the global nature of football, billions of fans around the world could have the unique experience of seeing one of their compatriots claim the ultimate prize in club football.
“In this FIFA Club World Cup, teams will have representatives of 34 European countries participating. Thirty-four European countries will play in the FIFA Club World Cup,” Mr Infantino told delegates. “This is actually one country more than all the countries in Europe who have ever participated in the FIFA World Cup, which is 33. So, it opens up opportunities, and guess what? Not just citizens of eight countries can win the FIFA Club World Cup, but citizens of all the countries. “This is what football is about. It’s about bringing people together, bringing countries together. Actually, the 12 European clubs today have – and this is also interesting – 54 different countries represented from all over the world: 34 from Europe, 20 from five other continents. So, Europe is already uniting the world, the world of football, and that’s what we are here for.” He noted that 20% of the revenues generated by the new competition will go to non-participating clubs, saying it was an “incredibly important [initiative] that will boost the growth of club football all over the world.” He also highlighted the broadcast deal struck with DAZN that means fans across the planet will be able to see each of the tournament’s 63 matches, including the final on 13 July, for free.
“Football is the people’s sport, football is for all, we believe in that,” the FIFA President added. “We believe in creating opportunities for the entire world, for the citizens of the entire world to shine and to compete.” That ethos was also the central thread of Mr Infantino’s call to keep women’s football moving forward. Following the unparalleled success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, which was the first edition following the expansion from 24 to 32 teams, the 2027 tournament in Brazil – the first in South America – will seek to build on that momentum. At the March 2025 FIFA Council meeting, two new women’s club competitions were confirmed: the FIFA Women’s Club World Cup™ to launch in 2028 and the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™ to kick off in 2026. At the same meeting, CAF and Concacaf-affiliated FIFA Member Associations (MAs) were invited to bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2031™ with CAF and UEFA MAs encouraged to do the same for 2035.
The FIFA President told delegates the US Soccer Federation has declared an interest to submit a joint bid with other MAs from the region for the 2031 tournament while The Football Association, the Irish Football Association, The Scottish Football Association and The Football Association of Wales have done likewise for a joint bid for the 2035 edition, and stated those tournaments could be the start of a new era for the women’s game.
“Our idea – and we will discuss this further at the FIFA Council before the Congress in May – is actually to increase there, as well, the number of participating teams from 32 to 48, to equal it with the FIFA Men’s World Cup as of 2031,” announced Mr Infantino. “The path is there for the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be taking place in ‘31 and ‘35 in some great countries, in some great nations, to boost even more the women’s football movement.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends 49th Ordinary UEFA Congress in Belgrade
He also stated that FIFA is involved in talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with regard to the format of the Olympic Football Tournament (OFT). As at the Paris Games last year, the men’s OFT currently features 16 U-23 teams that also include a set number of over-age players, while only 12 women’s senior international sides compete for gold.
“We have been asking the International Olympic Committee whether we can have 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams. It seems this is not possible,” Mr Infantino explained. “We will keep asking, but our proposal that we will of course discuss as well internally – and we have already started to discuss it – would be that if it is not possible to have 16 and 16 then we should maybe just think about swapping it. “That means you should have 16 women’s teams at the Olympics and 12 men’s teams at the Olympics in order to foster even more the women’s football movement. I think we owe that to women’s football. I think this will be a strong signal. But we will see where this leads us and how we can make sure that we boost and develop football even more all over the world.”