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Barcelona’s withdrawal from the Champions League on Tuesday means Atlético Madrid will compete in the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup to be held in the United States next year.
In Europe, 12 teams will take part in this expensive month-long tournament. This includes the Champions League title winners in his four seasons up until this season, as well as the top teams based on overall performance in the competition over this period.
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Barcelona started the game on Tuesday below Atlético in the standings, hoping to qualify for Spain’s second Club World Cup, but lost 4-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at home in the quarter-finals. Barcelona lost 6-4 on aggregate.
Atlético lost 4-2 to Borussia Dortmund, 5-4 on aggregate, and were eliminated from the Champions League, but their qualification for the Club World Cup is guaranteed.
Atlético will become the 22nd team to qualify for the inaugural Club World Cup (32 teams), which will be held in cities across the United States from June 15th to July 13th next year. The expanded format will be held every four years instead of every year.
FIFA expects to pay out tens of millions of dollars in prize money to teams in the tournament, which will be without European powerhouses such as Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool and AC Milan. Lionel Messi’s current club Inter Miami and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nasr will also be absent.
The lineup from Europe includes the past three Champions League winners Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Manchester City, as well as top teams Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Porto, Dortmund, Benfica, Juventus, and now Atlético are among the names.
The final place to advance to Europe will be Arsenal or Salzburg if they win this Champions League.
The Austrian champions could qualify even if they are lower than clubs such as Liverpool, Barcelona or Milan, as FIFA limits countries to two spots unless there are three or more continental champions.
Starting in 2021, three Brazilian teams (Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminense) have qualified as Copa Libertadores winners. Argentina’s storied rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors are likely to qualify as the top six teams in South America.
The Seattle Sounders and Mexican teams Leon and Monterrey will be joined by another team from the Concacaf region. The Champions Cup final will be held on June 2nd. Another U.S. team will also need to qualify, including the host nation’s champion, as part of Club World Cup tradition.
In Asia, Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and Japan’s Urawa Reds are participating. From Africa, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca have qualified, while New Zealand’s Auckland City will represent Oceania.
The final continental final in 2024 will be the Copa Libertadores in South America, to be held on November 30th.
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