Morocco has been selected by FIFA to host the 2023 Club World Cup in February, while an expanded 32-team edition will be launched in 2025.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino made the announcement on Friday. The tournament will take place from February 1-11, 2023, Infantino told reporters at a press conference in Doha, reports the Associated Press.
European champion Real Madrid, South American champion Flamengo and Seattle Sounders, the first CONCACAF Champions League winner from the United States, will play in the traditional seven-team tournament.
Following Morocco’s exciting and inspiring World Cup run that saw them exit the tournament in the semi-finals in Qatar, the country will now be the venue for the next global soccer event.
It will be one of the last seven-team editions for continental champions with an extended month-long tournament scheduled to begin in 2025.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the change sought was “to really make it like a World Cup.”
He said: “A few years ago we had agreed to have a new 24-team Men’s Club World Cup. It should have taken place in 2021 but was postponed due to Covid.
“The new competition will take place in 2025 and will feature 32 teams, making it really like a World Cup.”
Morocco hosted the Club World Cup in 2013 and again in 2014, while the last edition was held in the United Arab Emirates in February, with Chelsea lifting the trophy.