GENEVA (AP) — The United States will host the Club World Cup in 2025, the first time the FIFA tournament will have 32 teams.
Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea already earned places as recent Champions League winners for the expanded tournament lineup that is set to test stadiums and operations one year before the 2026 World Cup.
The United States will host the men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and FIFA could yet give some Club World Cup games to those countries.
The Club World Cup will take place in June-July 2025. The United States was chosen as host Friday during an online meeting of the FIFA Council.
FIFA praised “the United States’ position as a proven leader in staging global events and because it would allow FIFA to maximize synergies with the delivery” of the 2026 tournament.
The Seattle Sounders also are in the lineup for the Club World Cup as the 2022 champion of North American soccer region CONCACAF. The Americans should get another entry as the host nation.
Storied European teams have visited the United States for preseason friendly games for years but the expanded club tournament will give fans a rare chance to see 12 of them play competitive games.
FIFA said in March the basic qualification path for clubs was to win a continental championship in any of the four years from 2021 to 2024 in the five main confederations: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
Europe with 12 teams and South America with six are the only continents with more than four entries. Extra places should be awarded according to team rankings by results a four-year span in continental competitions.
The current seven-team Club World Cup for continental champions played every season creates little broad appeal and FIFA has long wanted to stage a full-sized tournament every four years.
This expanded version in 2025 is a huge commercial opportunity for FIFA to try new broadcasting models and sign new sponsors, funding hundreds of millions of dollars in prize money for the clubs.
The influential European Club Association said in March it hoped for talks with FIFA on how to manage the commercial rights.
The format for a Club World Cup lasting about three weeks has yet to be decided. One option is guaranteeing the 32 teams at least three games each playing in eight groups of four. The eight group winners could then advance to the quarterfinals. That would create a tournament of 56 games if a third-place game was included.
The current annual Club World Cup format will continue with a final edition scheduled for December in Saudi Arabia.
Reviving the Club World Cup was a priority for FIFA president Gianni Infantino on being elected in 2016, but his first project plan was blocked. A Saudi-linked $25 billion deal with Japanese technology investor SoftBank provoked anger from European soccer officials who saw it as secretive and an overreach by FIFA.
FIFA got agreement in 2019 for a 24-team event to launch in June 2021 in China, but that was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic before commercial details had been confirmed.
FIFA came back with a fresh Club World Cup plan after the Super League project led by an elite group of clubs quickly failed in April 2021 while causing intense turmoil for European soccer body UEFA.
Other teams already qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup are: Palmeiras (Brazil), Flamengo (Brazil), Monterrey (Mexico), Leon (Mexico), Al-Ahly (Egypt), Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia).
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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
