The new version of the Club World Cup was unveiled on the 15th: the total prize money is 1 billion US dollars. What is the highlight of the "expanded military version" Club World Cup?

On the morning of June 15, the new version of the World Club Cup, with 32 teams participating, will be held in the United States, with Miami International vs. Cairo Nationals, with the final date on July 13. The Club World Cup system is exactly the same as the World Cup before the expansion into 48 teams. 32 teams are divided into 8 groups, and the top two in each group enter the knockout round until the championship is decided. The players and coaches of the Club World Cup recalled their experiences in the World Cup in an interview. Among the 32 participating teams in the Club World Cup, 12 of Europe have the largest number, 6 in South America, 4 teams each in Asia, Africa, Central and North America and the Caribbean (a total of 12 teams) participated, 1 team in Oceania, and 1 team in the host country. The total prize money for the Club World Cup is about $1 billion, and the champion team can receive a prize of up to $125 million. If we can win the first new version of the Club World Cup in two seasons, it will definitely be a good thing to win both fame and fortune. European giants such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, the new Champions League champion Paris Saint-Germain and runner-up Inter Milan naturally became the focus of fans' attention. Miami International, led by Messi, participated as the special invited team of the host United States.

Can Real Madrid and Manchester City regain their face?

In the just-concluded 2024-2025 season, Real Madrid and Manchester City performed poorly, and had no results in the league, Champions League and Cup. However, before the start of the Club World Cup, fans were still used to seeing Real Madrid and Manchester City as popular teams, because Real Madrid won the Champions League championship in the 2023-2024 seasons and 2021-2022 seasons, while Manchester City was the Champions League champion in the 2022-2023 seasons. The strength of Real Madrid and Manchester City has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Real Madrid is the team with the most championships in the Champions League. The coach Ancelotti, who led the team to win the last two Champions League championships, has already coached the Brazilian national team. Alonso, an former disciple of Alonso, became the new coach of Real Madrid. In the early morning of June 19, Real Madrid will play against Riyadh Crescent in the first group stage of the Club World Cup, becoming the official debut of "Long Ge" coaching Real Madrid.

Real Madrid has announced the list of participating in the Club World Cup, which is naturally a gathering of stars. The forward line is led by Mbappe and 2024 World Football Might Winnicius, and the midfield stars include Bellingham, Valverde and Modric. It is worth noting that as the 2018 Golden Globes and World Footballer's double winner, Modric's contract with Real Madrid will expire on June 30, and Real Madrid has confirmed that it will not renew the contract with "Magic Flute". As the core of Real Madrid's midfielder for many years, veteran Modric has feelings and righteousness. He respects Real Madrid and decided to undergo a physical examination with his new boss AC Milan after participating in the Club World Cup. Modric and Alonso were Real Madrid's midfield partners when they won the 2013-2014 Champions League championship, and they worked together under Ancelotti. Alonso has now become Real Madrid's head coach, and Modric decided to stay and send his senior brother to his journey.

Mbappe

Real Madrid's poor record last season was one of the main reasons for lack of soldiers on the back line. Central defender Militon and right-back Carvajal were absent for a long time due to injuries. These two wounded men returned in time and were selected for the Club World Cup roster. Real Madrid introduced Spanish national team central defender Wyson and England right-back Arnold from Bournemouth and Liverpool this summer, both of whom were selected for the Club World Cup roster.

Midfielder superstar De Bruyne has taken a different approach from Modric. Manchester City decided not to renew his contract with De Bruyne. The Belgian star will not represent Manchester City in the Club World Cup. His transaction to Naples is about to be completed. 2024 Golden Globe winner Rodri returned from injury at the end of last season and was selected for the Club World Cup roster, which is considered a reassurance for Manchester City coach Guardiola. Manchester City has introduced midfielder Reindes, winger Cherki and left-back Ait Nuri this summer, and three new players are selected for the Club World Cup roster. Windback Gallish and right-back Walker both made great contributions to Manchester City's glory, but unfortunately the decline in form was too serious. Both England stars were excluded from the Club World Cup roster by Manchester City.

Why do Brazil have four teams participating?

The qualification for the first new version of the Club World Cup is determined in this way. The 32 teams include champions from each continent in the past four seasons (2020-2021 to 2023-2024 seasons), as well as teams with high points according to the ranking method set by FIFA. In principle, each member of the FIFA Football Association can only have at most two clubs participating. If a club under a member Football Association has more than two teams winning the continental championship within 4 years, it may not be subject to the two places to participate.

Paris Saint-Germain is the champion of the new UEFA Champions League. He qualifies for the first new version of the Club World Cup, but does not rely on his status as a champion in the Champions League, but on his higher points. With his identity as the Champions League champion in the 2024-2025 season, Paris Saint-Germain has secured the qualification to participate in the 2029 Club World Cup in advance. The previous four Champions League champions were Real Madrid, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea. These three clubs participated in this Club World Cup with their UEFA Champions League titles. Liverpool and Barcelona are the new Premier League champions and La Liga champions respectively, but unfortunately they failed to qualify for the Club World Cup because they are subject to two quotas for each Football Association. The representatives of the Premier League participating in the Club World Cup are Manchester City and Chelsea, while the representatives of the La Liga participating in the Club World Cup are Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Barcelona's FIFA Club World Cup points are slightly lower than Atletico Madrid, so it is excluded from the roster of the Club World Cup, which makes FIFA a bit rigid.

The South American Liberators Cup champions from 2021 to 2024 are all from Brazil, namely Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fruminense and Botafogo. Therefore, these four Brazilian League clubs have all qualified for this Club World Cup, highlighting the style of Brazil in the football kingdom.

The traditional Club World Cup is a six continental continental sending fresh continental champions to participate in the competition, plus a host team, and ultimately hope to promote the matchup between the Champions League and the South American Liberators Cup, just like the Toyota Cup that year. However, the South American Liberators Cup champions are often not good enough to enter the Club World Cup final. For example, Flamengo was eliminated by the Saudi superstar Riyadh Crescent 2-3 in the 2022 semi-finals, Palmeiras was eliminated by the Mexican team Leon 0-1 in the 2020 semi-finals, and Argentine giants River Plate was eliminated by the UAE team Al Ain in the 2018 semi-finals.

In the first new version of the Club World Cup, in addition to four Brazilian giant clubs, there are two Argentina's most famous clubs, River Plate and Boca Youth. Although most of the elite players of South American duo Brazil and Argentina play in Europe, these six South American clubs participating in the Club World Cup have strong foundations and they all have the opportunity to prove themselves.

C Ronaldo "commented" Messi?

The two superstars Messi and Ronaldo are both older, but they are still very popular. In order to allow Miami International, led by Messi, to participate in the competition as the host team, FIFA President Infantino specially approved Messi a ticket to the Club World Cup as early as October 18 last year. Miami International relies on the status of the first in the regular season of the 2024 FA League. Although the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, other FA League teams may not be convinced, but who made Messi the box office guarantee?

C Ronaldo just won the UEFA Champions League

Miami International can be called "Barcelona Point". He has many famous players who have created glory in Barcelona. In addition to Messi, there are also Suarez, Busquets, Alba and young coach Mascherano. They helped Barcelona become the "triple-champion" of the Champions League, La Liga and Spain in the 2014-2015 season. The coach at that time was Enrique. This year, Enrique led Paris Saint-Germain to become the "four champions" in the Champions League, Ligue 1, French Cup and French Super Cup. Especially after entering the Champions League knockout stage, Paris Saint-Germain showed aggressive momentum and won the first Champions League championship in the club's history.

In the 2015 Club World Cup final, Enrique led Barcelona to beat River Plate 3-0, Messi scored a goal, and Suarez scored twice. Ten years later, Enrique led Paris Saint-Germain to participate in the new version of the Club World Cup. He said: "Winning the Champions League for the first time is an incredible achievement for Paris Saint-Germain. Now is the time to return to the arena and strive to win the world championship."

Messi

If Paris Saint-Germain wins first in Group B and Miami International wins second in Group A, Messi and former mentor Enrique and several former Paris Saint-Germain teammates will meet in the eight-quarter finals. The way Miami International avoided the new Champions League champion Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals was to qualify in the same rankings in their respective groups. But some people are worried that Mascherano's coaching ability is poor, and believe that Miami International, led by veterans, cannot qualify in the group, which depends on how much influence the home advantage and Messi concept have. Paris Saint-Germain's opponent in the same group, Atletico Madrid is strong, and the two strongest teams in Group B will meet in the first round.

FIFA President Infantino also hopes that Ronaldo will participate in the Club World Cup, but unfortunately he can't do anything to do, because the Riyadh victory played for by Ronaldo does not meet the standards in terms of the title and FIFA points. Infantino once suggested that Riyadh victorious captain Cristiano Ronaldo briefly join a team that qualifies for the Club World Cup, such as Riyadh Crescent, who joined Riyadh victorious rival Riyadh. Coincidentally, Riyadh Crescent's first round of group stage opponent is Real Madrid, Ronaldo's old club. If Ronaldo comes, it will become a game full of topics. Riyadh Crescent's new coach Inzaghi led Inter Milan to the Champions League final last season. However, the way of switching to the same-city derby opponent was too hurt by the hearts of our team's fans. Ronaldo finally decided to give up, and he also gave up the short-term operation of joining other teams to participate in the Club World Cup. Ronaldo has just led Portugal to win the second European League championship trophy. After a short vacation, he will start a renewal negotiation with Riyadh. He may have the opportunity to play a guest appearance as a TV commentator during the Club World Cup, and may even comment on Messi's game.

Text|Reporter Liu Yi