FIFA Club World Cup 2025: What could be the ‘Group of Death’?

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup draw takes place on Thursday 5 December, with some of the world's leading clubs learning their group stages opponents for the revamped tournament.

The likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain will all discover their fates for the recently expanded 32-team tournament, which will occur over the period of a month next summer.

Public reception to yet another major tournament being added to the football calendar has not been overwhelmingly positive to say the least, but some sizeable match-ups in the group stage of the competition could well quieten the grumblings.

Potential 'Group of Death' at 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

The pots have now been revealed for the group stage of the 2025 Club World Cup, with sides split into eight groups of four. Each group will contain one club from each of the four pots, with Pot 1 boasting the strongest sides and Pot 4 containing the weakest.

Pot 1 is entirely made up of sides from UEFA and CONMEBOL, with Real Madrid and Man City the most impressive sides in said pot. While they're struggling for form at present, both will likely finish the campaign stronger than they have started and will be well-equipped to compete for the Club World Cup in 2025.

Pot 2 is made up entirely of European teams, with the likes of Chelsea, last season's Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and 2023/24 Serie A winners Inter included. Chelsea and Inter are arguably the two strongest teams in Pot 2, with Pot 1 teams keen to avoid two of Europe's elite.

There are a mixture of sides from varying confederations in Pot 3. Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo make up the group alongside Argentinian giants Boca Juniors and 12-time AFC Champions League winners and current competition holders Al Ahly from Egypt.

However, Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal may be the side to avoid given the individual quality they possess. Coached by Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus, the Saudi side have the likes of Joao Cancelo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic and, of course, Neymar at their disposal.

Pot 4 boasts the least impressive club sides but it may well be Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez's Inter Miami who pose the biggest threat to the elite sides in the competition. With the club currently leading the Eastern Conference in MLS, the recently appointed Javier Mascherano will be hoping to secure a first league title for the Herons since their formation in 2018.

Two potential 2025 FIFA Club World Cup 'Groups of Death'

Every 2025 FIFA Club World Cup team by pot

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

Pot 4

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