At the FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia on Friday, Manchester City will learn who their opponents are in the semi-finals.
Al-Ittihad, the Saudi Pro League winners, defeated Auckland City 3-0 in the opening round of the seven-team competition on Tuesday.
Champions of Europe City and Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense are guaranteed spots in the semifinals.
Club World Cup: Everything you need to know about the tournament in Saudi Arabia
In the last four games on Tuesday, City will face either the Leon team from Mexico or the Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan.
On Monday, Al Ahly, or Al-Ittihad, will host Brazil’s Fluminense.
This is the Club World Cup‘s last iteration in its current configuration; FIFA has confirmed that an expanded competition with 32 teams will take place in 2025.
What format does it follow?
In the sole match of the first round of the seeded competition, Al-Ittihad faced Auckland, the 2023 OFC Champions League winners.
Al-Ittihad will now play in round two on Friday against Concacaf winners Leon, 2022 AFC champions Urawa Red Diamonds, and CAF champions Al Ahly.
The winners of those games move on to the semifinals, where Fluminese and Manchester City join the competition.
On Monday and Tuesday, the semi-finals will take place, and on Friday, December 22, there will be a play-off for third place and the championship.
Venue for the tournament
King Abdullah Sports City
Saudi Arabia is hosting seven matches over ten days at two stadiums in the city of Jeddah, home of King Abdullah Sports City, which opened in 2014.
Five matches, including the championship, will be held in Al-Ittihad’s home stadium, King Abdullah Sports City, which has 62,345 seats. Two of the matches will be held at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, which has 27,000 seats.
King Abdullah Sports City hosted high-profile boxing events, such as the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, in which the Ukrainian prevailed by split decision to keep his WBA (Super), WBO, and IBF heavyweight titles. Juventus and AC Milan faced off in the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana final.
In the second round and the third-place play-off, Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Leon will take place at the more compact Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.
Previous winners
European teams have won the FIFA Club World Cup the last ten times.
Eleven cubs have won the championship since the sport began in 2000, with three from Brazil and eight from Europe.
In the inaugural final between Brazilian rivals Corinthians and Vasco da Gama, the former won on penalties following a goalless draw. Corinthians also triumphed in the competition in 2012.
The previous two Brazilian teams to make it this far are Sao Paulo (2005) and Internacional (2006).
In an exciting 2007 final, Inter Milan defeated Boca Juniors of Argentina 4-2 to become the first European winners.
After defeating LDU Quito of Ecuador in 2008, Manchester United became the first English club to win the Club World Cup ; Liverpool and Chelsea followed suit in 2019 and 2021.
Real Madrid defeated Al-Hilal 5-3 in the previous year’s Club World Cup final match.
More than any other side, Los Blancos have won the FIFA Club World Cup five times. Barcelona has won the tournament three times.
