Juventus, Milan and Napoli are in the running for one of the 12 UEFA places to join the Nerazzurri in the competition to be held in 2025 in the United States
Victory, Champions League round of 16 and… pass to the 2025 Club World Cup. The penalty converted by Lautaro Martinez in Salzburg opened up wonderful scenarios for Inter, already certain of having topped the group and, moreover, confident to take part in the innovative edition of the World Cup in two years’ time, in the United States. Qualification which, by virtue of the recent results in the Champions League, was in fact only a formality. The four-year competition will feature 32 teams, with eight groups of four. The Nerazzurri are thus the sixth European team (out of 12) to be sure of flying to the USA. And the others?
THE QUALIFIED
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Inter, in fact, then Bayern Munich, PSG, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City: these are the European clubs that have already qualified for the Club World Cup. The last three are in fact the recent winners of the Champions League (the four-year period 2020 is considered /24), to which will be added that of the current season. Bayern, Inter and PSG have reached the finish line via the ranking which considers the results obtained in the competition since 2020. The last four winners of the Champions League plus another eight (with three places already assigned): these will be the qualified teams. What are the others missing?
THE TWO SYSTEMS
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Only points obtained in the Champions League count, not in the European and Conference League. A fundamental aspect is that a country cannot bring more than two clubs to the competition: considering that Chelsea and Manchester City have already won the Champions League and therefore have automatically obtained the pass, England already has all the slots occupied. The only possibility is that a team other than City (Arsenal, Newcastle or Manchester United) wins the Champions League this year: in that case, they would enter as champions of the 2023/24 edition. Liverpool are therefore certainly left out, despite an excellent position in the rankings. The point is that the points calculation system is not yet official. In fact, there are two methods currently possible: on the one hand the UEFA ranking by club (2 points for victory, 1 for a draw, 4 for participation, 5 for the round of 16, 1 for quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals), on the another a new system proposed by FIFA which would provide 3 victory points, 1 for a draw, 5 for participation and stop.
UEFA RANKING
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Whatever the calculation system, Inter cannot be overtaken by any Italian team in the ranking. Decidedly more uncertain and intricate is the discussion regarding the second place available for Serie A clubs: at the moment there is Juventus, who however cannot earn points in this edition. The Bianconeri can thus be overtaken by Milan and Naples, with the Rossoneri slightly ahead of the Neapolitans whatever method is considered. If the UEFA ranking were applied, Milan would have 39 points and Napoli 34, with Juve on 47: with the five points deriving from the passage to the round of 16, considering that they would also be the result of positive results that bring other points, the two teams would have a great chance of overcoming the Bianconeri.
THE ALTERNATIVE
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However, if the system proposed by FIFA were to pass, the situation would be different. With an advantage for Juventus. The Bianconeri would in fact have 52 points, with Milan on 42 and Napoli on 39. Without the five points for passage to the round of 16, to close the gap the two teams would need to win several matches (+3 for each success), with passing the group stage which at this point would no longer be enough. In short, the scenario can change and quite a bit. And Italy is not the only country in which there could be an “internal” race for qualification for the Club World Cup. Think of Spain: with Real Madrid already sure of their place, the duality is between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Just as the duel between Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig in Germany is alive.
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