Three English clubs set for Fifa Club World Cup

Allowing three clubs per country would reduce the chances of a similar scenario happening when the next tournament is held in 2029.

Fifa may push to expand the Club World Cup to 48 teams but that is likely to be opposed by Uefa, even if the European Club Association is in favour. Uefa would also be completely opposed to any attempt to hold the tournament more frequently than every four years.

The future of the tournament is expected to be raised at a Fifa Council meeting on Thursday — though it is unlikely there will be any decisions on it yet.

Victor Montagliani, Canada’s Fifa vice-president, said the tournament — considered “the anti-Christ to club football” in Europe — had been a big success.

Asked if he was in favour of increasing the number of clubs he told the Leaders sports business conference in London: “After the first one, like running any business, after your first month you ask do you have enough people? Do you have the right product?

“We need to discuss with stakeholders like the ECA in Europe, was the format the right format? Do we need to have more clubs or do we have a different variety of clubs in terms of how they qualify?”

The 12 European clubs for this year’s competition qualified either by winning the Champions League over the previous four seasons or via Uefa’s club coefficient, which is calculated over the previous four seasons. As Chelsea and Manchester City qualified by winning the Champions League there was no space for Liverpool, despite the club having a high coefficient.

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