The upcoming Club World Cup will feature 32 major clubs from around the world, but here are some of the biggest teams who have failed to qualify for the summer tournament.
The expanded FIFA Club World Cup takes place in the USA from 14th June to 13th July 2025 and the tournament will feature 32 teams from six confederations.
Manchester City are the defending champions but European nations can each provide a maximum of two clubs so many of the world’s biggest clubs will miss out on the summer club football extravaganza.
From Arsenal to Corinthians, read on to find out which club football giants will be absent, and make sure to check out our guide to the Club World Cup format for more information on the tournament and our football betting page for the latest odds and markets.
Which teams will miss the Club World Cup?
Barcelona
Hansi Flick’s men lost 7-6 on aggregate to Inter Milan in a thrilling Champions League semi-final, although they remain on course for a domestic double in Spain.
Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 in April’s Copa del Rey final and look set to win La Liga but they will not be heading to the Club World Cup, which they won in 2009, 2011 and 2015.
Real, champions of Europe in 2022 and 2024, take up one of Spain’s slots and Atletico Madrid have pipped Barca to the second one due to their superior record on UEFA’s four-year ranking.
Liverpool
The newly crowned Premier League champions will also have the summer off as Chelsea and Manchester City are the two English raiders at the Club World Cup.
The Blues won the Champions League in 2021 while City claimed their first European crown in 2023, the season after Liverpool had lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the final.
Arsenal
The Gunners have established themselves as one of the best teams in England over the past three seasons but that was not sufficient to earn them a post-season trip to the Club World Cup.
Mikel Arteta’s men have a modest UEFA four-year ranking as they only returned to the Champions League in 2023, losing to Bayern Munich in last season’s quarter-finals and bowing out in the semis against Paris Saint-Germain this term.
Manchester United
The Red Devils won the Club World Cup in 2008 but they have not made it past the Champions League round of 16 since 2018-19.
United are set for their worst top-flight finish since they were relegated in 1974, although their fans are looking forward to an all-English Europa League final against Tottenham in Bilbao.
Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen ended Bayern Munich’s 11-year reign as Bundesliga champions in 2023-24, going through the league campaign unbeaten and also winning the DFB-Pokal and reaching the final of the Europa League.
Those achievements were not enough to take them to the Club World Cup, however, as Bayern and Borussia Dortmund have claimed the two places available to German clubs.
Unlike Leverkusen, Dortmund are regulars in the Champions League knockout stages and they lost to Real Madrid in the 2023-24 final at Wembley.
Napoli
Inter Milan and Juventus are Italy’s top two teams on the UEFA four-year ranking and Inter have also reached this season’s Champions League final.
However, the Nerazzurri are involved in a tight Serie A title race with Napoli, who are targeting a second Scudetto in three seasons.
Napoli swaggered to the title in 2022-23, also reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, but their underwhelming European performances counted against them in terms of Club World Cup qualification.
AC Milan
Inter Milan and AC Milan are the only Italian sides to have won the Club World Cup but the Rossoneri will not get the chance to add to their 2007 triumph, when they beat Boca Juniors 4-2 in the final.
Only Real Madrid have won more European Cup or Champions League titles than Milan’s seven although they have had limited success in Europe recently.
They reached the Champions League semis in 2022-23, losing 3-0 on aggregate to rivals Inter, but crashed out in the group stage the following season.
Sporting
Only 12 of the 32 Club World Cup teams come from Europe and Portuguese contenders Porto and Benfica have both secured their places at the expanded tournament.
Porto were the fifth-highest eligible team based on UEFA’s four-year ranking and Benfica also qualified via that route, meaning that Sporting have missed out.
They won the Primeira Liga title in 2023-24 and are vying with Benfica for this season’s crown despite the departure of manager Ruben Amorim to Manchester United.
However, Sporting have reached the Champions League last 16 only once during UEFA’s four-year ranking window and they lost 3-0 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in this season’s play-off round.
LA Galaxy
Away from Europe, there was some controversy over the decision to award Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami a place at the Club World Cup.
Seattle Sounders are also representing the host nation, by virtue of their 2022 CONCACAF Champions League victory, and Miami got the nod over reigning MLS champions LA Galaxy.
Messi and his Inter teammates won the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield, for having the best regular-season record, but LA Galaxy triumphed in the play-offs, beating New York Red Bulls 2-1 to lift the MLS Cup.
Corinthians
Real Madrid (five), Barcelona (three) and Bayern Munich (two) are three of the four most successful teams in Club World Cup history and Corinthians of Brazil are the only other multiple winners of the tournament.
They were victorious in 2000 and 2012 but have slipped down the pecking order in South American football since those glory days.
Brazil’s dominance of the Copa Libertadores means they are sending four teams to the USA – Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo – while Argentinian giants River Plate and Boca Juniors have also qualified.
