Two of England’s footballing giants, Chelsea and Liverpool, are no strangers to the international stage. Yet when the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 kicks off in the United States, only one of them will be there. Despite both clubs having recent European success, Chelsea qualified — and Liverpool did not. The reason? A mix of sporting merit and FIFA’s strict qualification rules.

How did Chelsea qualify?

Chelsea earned their spot by winning the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, defeating Manchester City in the final. Under FIFA’s revised format for the expanded 32-team Club World Cup, the Champions League winners from the last four seasons (2021–2024) gain automatic qualification.

So, even though Chelsea haven’t been contenders in Europe recently, their 2021 UCL title was enough to secure a place in the inaugural edition of the new-format tournament.

Why is Liverpool left out?

Liverpool’s case is more complicated. While they’ve performed well in Europe during the same period, they did not win the Champions League between 2021 and 2024. But there’s more:

FIFA also placed a cap of two clubs per country in the tournament — unless one of them is a continental champion.

• Chelsea (UCL 2021 winners)
• Manchester City (UCL 2023 winners)

With both Chelsea and Man City claiming titles during the qualification cycle, England’s two spots were filled. That meant Liverpool, despite its pedigree and strong performances, missed out — as did Arsenal and Manchester United.

When and where will the tournament take place?

The 2025 Club World Cup will be held in the USA, running from June to July, and will feature 32 clubs from all six confederations.

Europe’s confirmed representatives include teams like:

• Real Madrid
• Manchester City
• Chelsea
• Bayern Munich
• Paris Saint-Germain
• Inter Milan