It seems that for FIFA authorities, the venues in the city of Los Angeles, such as Sofi Stadium and the Rose Bowl, are not attractive enough to schedule a large-scale event such as the finals of the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup.
Indeed, the above was confirmed when FIFA announced the 12 venues that will host the top club-level event to be played in the United States next year and where it was also established that the final game of the Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup will take place in the Big Apple with Met Life Stadium as the grand stage for the final game.
But if that were not enough, not long ago Conmebol did not take into account the venues of the Californian city to celebrate the opening or the grand final, since the opening match was played between Argentina and Canada at the Mercedes Benz in the city of Atlanta.
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The final was played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where Argentina’s national team won against Colombia in a highly controversial match due to the lack of reaction by the authorities in the metropolis to control the entry of fans into the stadium, which sparked a flurry of violent events.
With a new 32-player format, the Club World Cup will start on July 15, 2025, and end on July 13 at MetLife Stadium, a venue that was also surprisingly chosen by FIFA to celebrate the final match of the 2026 World Cup,
A highly controversial decision, given the capacity and experience that the Californian authorities have throughout history in hosting top-level football events, such as the 1994 World Cup final, when Brazil beat Italy in a dramatic penalty shootout to be crowned champion.
Now in the Club World Cup structure, along with MetLife Stadium, the remaining eleven venues will be Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Rose Bowl Stadium (Pasadena), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle) and Audi Field (Washington, DC).
The choice of venues has added significance now that they have been announced, as the 2025 Gold Cup will end up being played on the West Coast of the United States, while the Club World Cup will be almost entirely on the East Coast.
The official announcement
In the grand announcement by FIFA of the twelve venues, the head of this organization, Gianni Infantino, sent a brief message in which he recalled that football is the most followed sport in the world and that this will mark the beginning of a new era in football.
“Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and 2025 marks the beginning of a new era for club football with the world’s largest and most inclusive merit-based global competition, which FIFA will host here in the United States,” said the head of the world’s top football body at an event held at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park (New York).
Infantino also spoke of the importance of holding a Club World Cup similar to a World Cup, saying that this would mark a before and after the aforementioned event, which has been modified in its structure to count on the support of the most powerful teams in the world.
“ The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be played in 12 fantastic stadiums, where players from the 32 best teams in the world will write a new chapter in the history of world football,” said the FIFA chief.
He added: “This new FIFA tournament is the only example of real mobilization and inclusiveness that exists worldwide in club football, as it will allow clubs from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Central and North America to play against the great clubs from Europe and South America in an incredible World Cup.”
To date, some of the qualifiers include names such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Boca Juniors, and Seattle Sounders, as well as Mexican teams Monterrey, Leon, and Pachuca, among many others.
It is also true that there are still two teams left to complete the list of participants and it is rumored that an invitation will be sent to Inter Miami of the MLS with its international stars led by the Argentine Lionel Messi which includes the Uruguayan Luis Suarez and the Spaniards Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, as well as another South American squad.
The development of the competition will be announced next December with the draw for the competition to determine the official schedule for this 2025 Club World Cup.
