According to the Guardian, FIFA is considering hosting the Club World Cup every two years starting from 2029.
The Guardian revealed that Real Madrid representatives had talks with FIFA in Miami in June this year. Real Madrid proposed to change the Club World Cup from four years to two years. This proposal was subsequently supported by Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, Naples and other teams that failed to receive tickets to the Club World Cup this summer.
The teams participating in the Club World Cup this summer generally received huge prizes, especially European teams such as Chelsea and Paris, so other European giants are also eager to participate in the Club World Cup.
In addition, the Club World Cup may further expand to the 48th team in the future to increase the probability of European giants participating. It should be noted that the 2026 World Cup and the 2031 Women's Football World Cup will be expanded to the 48th team, so the expansion of the Club World Cup is also in line with the overall plan of FIFA.
In this summer's Club World Cup, many European giants are unable to participate due to restrictions on participation, such as Liverpool, Barcelona, etc. After the expansion of the Club World Cup, such "regrets" will be greatly avoided.
However, the changes in the Club World Cup held a cycle and the expansion of the number of participating teams will inevitably further compress the schedule and increase the burden on players, which will be subject to some opposition and boycott, such as the Premier League and UEFA.
A organization called "World League" has sued FIFA with the European Commission, accusing the latter of never consulting with them when scheduling the schedule, and the global player union Fifpro also spoke out for support, which includes the Premier League and other leagues.
It is reported that in order to promote further reform of the Club World Cup and reduce opposition, FIFA is willing to make some concessions, such as canceling the June international match day, thereby reducing the burden on players and freeing up the schedule for the Club World Cup, but UEFA is expected to oppose it because they need to arrange UEFA NFC matches in June.
Premier League CEO Masters expressed concerns about the reform of the Club World Cup last week: "FIFA's main responsibility should be to supervise and operate national team events, while the Club World Cup is a club event. FIFA has never consulted our opinions when arranging the Club World Cup schedule. I hope that no matter how the Club World Cup is reorganized in the future, FIFA should invite us to participate in discussions and negotiations. After all, this event will have an impact on the Premier League."
The Guardian also revealed that FIFA is studying the 2029 Club World Cup participation standards, which may cancel the restrictions on up to two participating teams in the same member association, and is also considering whether to expand the number of participating teams from 32 to 48.
Qatar, Spain and Morocco have expressed their intention to bid for the 2029 Club World Cup, and FIFA is expected to release more details later this year.