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Discovering Football: FIFA Club World Cup

What is the FIFA Club World Cup?

The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men’s association football competition that is administered by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Its inaugural season was held in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship. 

It was not held from 2001 to 2004 due to a number of causes. The most serious of which was the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure (ISL). However, it has been held annually since 2005, with Brazil, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Qatar hosting it. Opinions on the cup's importance differ: it struggles to pique attention in most of Europe but it is the subject of a raging controversy in South America.

FIFA Club World Cup

Title by Clubs

Here are some statistics about the results of the competition. Real Madrid hold the record for the most wins in the competition, having won it four times. Corinthians' first-ever victory is still the best by a national league champion from a host country. Spain have won the competition seven times, more than any other country.

Bayern Munich won FIFA Club World Cup 2020

Bayern Munich of Germany are the defending champions, having defeated Tigres UANL of Mexico 1–0 in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup Final.

How is the format of the FIFA Club World Cup?

Before 2012, most teams qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup by winning their continental championships, such as the AFC Champions League, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions League, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League, and UEFA Champions League. Apart from these, the national league champions of the host country are also eligible. The main competition was divided into 2 rounds. The eight participating teams were separated into 2 groups of 4. The winners of both groups joined the final match while the runners-up competed for third place.

During the 2005 edition, a new format was launched. The competition was played in a single-elimination tournament. The teams competed in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shoot-outs used if necessary to determine the winner. Over a two-week span, six clubs competed. The quarter-final round, semi-final round, and final were all part of the competition. 

The structure changed slightly with the introduction of the current version, which now includes a fifth-place match and a spot for the host nation's national league champions. There are four stages: the play-off round, the quarterfinal, the semifinal, and the final. 

• First Stage: the host nation's national league champions vs the Oceanian Champions League winners.
• Quarter-finals: plus the African Champions League winners, the AFC Champions League winners and the CONCACAF Champions League winners.
• Semifinals: The quarter-final winners vs the UEFA Champions League winners and South America's Copa Libertadores winners. 
• Final:  the winners of each semi-final face each other.

Prizes and Trophy of the FIFA Club World Cup

Trophy

The current FIFA Club World Cup trophy is called the FIFA Club World Cup or simply la Copa. The gold-and-silver trophy stands 50 cm tall and weighs 5.2 kg (11 lb) (20 in). Its base and largest points are both exactly 20 cm broad (7.9 in). Brass, copper, sterling silver, gilding metal, aluminium, chrome, and rhodium are all used in its construction. The trophy plate is made of gold.

Awards

At the end of each season, awards are given to players and teams for achievements other than their final team places. Currently, three prizes are available:

• The Golden Ball is given to the best player who is also given the Alibaba Cloud Award (the FIFA Club World Cup's presenting sponsor). In addition, the Silver Ball and the Bronze Ball awards are also represented to the players who place second and third in the voting by media members.
• The FIFA Fair Play Award is handed to the club with the best fair play record.
• The Man of the Match award is for the best performing player in each match of the tournament.

The best three teams in each tournament get gold, silver, or bronze medals to distribute to their players.

Prize money

Reference Source

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Club_World_Cup