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Why FIFA Refused to Let Barcelona Play in 2025 Club World Cup Despite Last Minute Plea


Fans now have the opportunity to see clubs from around the globe battle against one another in the FIFA Club World Cup’s brand-new edition. With the current winners of each continental competition qualifying as well as the teams who have statistically performed the best over a given time span, the tournament attracts some of the greatest teams in the world.



Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, and Chelsea are among the teams competing in the event; yet, several teams are conspicuously absent. Tottenham Hotspur, the winners of the Europa League, and Liverpool, the current Premier League champions, are not participating.


Watch the DAZN Club World Cup.
Missing the competition has significant financial repercussions for teams because there are enormous sums of money up for grabs. The current La Liga winners, Barcelona, who also failed to qualify, begged FIFA to allow them to participate, but their request was denied.



Why FIFA Rejected Barcelona’s Plea to Compete in Club World Cup

They were snubbed in favour of another team


Barcelona pleaded with FIFA to allow them to participate in the Club World Cup after Mexican team Leon was disqualified owing to the organization’s multi-club ownership regulations. This season, Hansi Flick’s squad has been among the greatest in the world, defeating their rivals and scoring goals for fun in Spain as they won the La Liga trophy and advanced to the Champions League semifinals.



Barcelona did not qualify for the Club World Cup, even though they won the Copa del Rey and finished ahead of the two Spanish teams who qualified, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. This is due to a law that guarantees that only two teams from the same country can qualify for the Club World Cup, according to the Daily Mail. After losing to Atletico in the Champions League group stage for three consecutive years in 2021–2023, the Catalan team dropped to the bottom of UEFA’s coefficient ranking.


Grupo Pachuca is the operator of both Leon and sister Liga MX team Pachuca. According to the rules, owners are not permitted to have two teams competing simultaneously. Leon was consequently expelled, and Barcelona made the last-minute decision to try to get in while they were away.

However, FIFA once again rejected them, choosing Los Angeles FC, an MLS team, to participate instead. After defeating Club America in a qualification match, the United States-based squad was guaranteed a seat with a North and Central American team.

 



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