The draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has officially taken place, generating excitement for the competition’s revamped format.

This new version of the tournament, initially slated to debut in China in 2021, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has now been set for the summer of 2025.

While the competition promises to be a global celebration of football, its format has sparked controversy, with some prominent clubs missing from the lineup and some qualifiers being seen as unusual.

The competition will feature 32 teams, with European clubs receiving the largest share of spots, securing 12 places. South America will contribute six teams, and there will be four teams each from Asia, Africa, and North America, with a single representative from Oceania.

Notably, European clubs are allowed to have multiple teams in the same group, meaning some groups will feature two European sides.

Clubs qualify through various criteria, including winning continental championships in the past four years or being highly ranked within their respective confederations.

There are also restrictions in place, limiting a maximum of two clubs from each country and reserving one spot for the host nation, which will be Inter Miami in this edition.

As the competition approaches, fans are eager to see how the tournament will unfold and whether the final champion will come from the traditionally dominant European or South American teams, or if an underdog from another continent can rise to the occasion.

🚨 🌍🏆 The Official poster for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. pic.twitter.com/YBnnToARKm

— Football Fans Tribe 🇳🇬 ⚽ (@FansTribeHQ) December 5, 2024

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

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Leeds United have confirmed and made the announcement of the signing of Maximilian Wober from Red Bull Salzburg, subject to a work permit.

According to a report last week that the Whites were close to securing the signature of the centre-back, with a deal being confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Wober will reunite with Jesse Marsch, who originally signed him from Sevilla at Salzburg back in 2019. After their summer relocation to Elland Road, he will also re-establish contact with former teammates Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen.

In a statement, Leeds said: “Leeds United are delighted to announce the signing of Max Wober from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg for an undisclosed fee, subject to a work permit.

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“The 24-year-old becomes the club’s first signing of the January transfer window and he has penned a four-and-a-half-year deal at Elland Road, running until the summer of 2027.

“An Austrian international with 13 caps to his name, Wober can operate at both left-back and centre-back.”

Wober will wear number 39 and might make his Leeds debut in the FA Cup game against Cardiff City on Sunday.

✍️ #LUFC are delighted to announce the signing of Max Wober from Red Bull Salzburg, subject to a work permit

— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 3, 2023

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As the new ownership of Chelsea FC continues to restructure the team, the club has announced the appointment of a new technical director.

Chelsea Football Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Christopher Vivell. He joins immediately as the new technical director of Chelsea FC.

Vivell joins Chelsea from RB Leipzig in his native Germany, where he was in charge of recruitment and scouting across all age levels. During his time at Red Bull, he also oversaw the overarching strategy for squad building and recruitment within the Red Bull football group.

Vivell previously spent five years with Leipzig’s sister club RB Salzburg in Austria as head of scouting and recruitment and prior to that was the first-team scout at Hoffenheim.

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Following his appointment, Vivell said: ‘Chelsea are building the most exciting project in global football and I’m extremely proud to be joining the club.

There is so much potential for the club to continue to succeed, develop and grow. Under the new ownership, Graham Potter and the broader sporting team, there is a clear and sustainable philosophy underpinned by performance analysis, data and innovation, and I am looking forward to playing a part in that.’

Todd Boehly, Chelsea chairman, and Behdad Eghbali, co-controlling owner, said: ‘We are delighted that Christopher is taking up this important leadership role at the club. His work in Germany and Austria speaks for itself. We are confident he will continue on his impressive trajectory here at Chelsea. He will provide important support to Graham and the ownership group and play a vital part in advancing our overall vision for the club.’

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The draw for the 2022–23 Europa League play-off round has been completed and revealed, with heavyweights Manchester United and Barcelona drawn to face each other.

Eight of the third-placed teams from the eight groups in the Champions League were seeded to play one of the eight Europa League group runners-up.

Recall, The draw for the 2022-23 Champions League Round of 16 took place earlier on Monday, with Liverpool facing Real Madrid in a rematch of last season’s final.

• Who were the teams in the draw for the Europa League play-off round?

Seeded teams: Manchester United (ENG), Midtjylland (DEN), AS Monaco (FRA), Nantes (FRA), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Rennes (FRA), AS Roma (ITA), Union Berlin (GER).

Unseeded teams: Ajax (NED), Barcelona (ESP), Juventus (ITA), Bayer Leverkusen (GER), Salzburg (AUT), Sevilla (ESP), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Sporting CP (POR).

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Which tie do you want to see?

_________ 🆚 _________#UELdraw | #UEL pic.twitter.com/iqqvnHIu0R

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) November 7, 2022

The full draw for the Europa League playoff round

• Here’s the draw in full for the UEL play-off round:

Barcelona vs Manchester United

Juventus vs Nantes

Sporting vs Midtjylland

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Rennes

Ajax vs Union Berlin

Bayer Leverkusen vs AS Monaco

Salzburg vs AS Roma

Sevilla vs PSV Eindhoven

There are some fantastic ties coming up early in the following year, especially the first one!

It's set! 🤩

Which tie are you looking forward to most?#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/OvquVAv4rL

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) November 7, 2022

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Chelsea midfielder Denis Zakaria scored on his debut as the Blues ended their Champions League Group E campaign with a 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, winning the group and ending the Croatians’ European campaign.

Chelsea finished the group stage with 13 points, three more than runners-up AC Milan, who defeated third-placed Red Bull Salzburg 4-0. Dinamo finished last with four points, two points behind Salzburg.

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Edouard Mendy, starting for the first time under Graham Potter, got off to a terrible start when, seven minutes after Bruno Petkovic gave the visitors the lead with a header, he had to pluck the ball out of the Chelsea net.

Raheem Sterling took advantage of Dino Peric’s slip 11 minutes later to cut inside and score with his left foot to bring Chelsea back to even.

The Switzerland international Zakaria gave the Blues the lead on the half-hour mark with a brilliantly placed shot in his first game since coming on loan from Juventus on September 1. Mason Mount had done well to set up the chance.

In a worrying moment for England boss Gareth Southgate, Chelsea fullback Ben Chilwell pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury in second-half injury time, hopping towards the dressing room helped by medical staff as the game finished 2-1.

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After watching his team, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in particular, blow numerous opportunities against RB Salzburg, Graham Potter is unconcerned about Chelsea’s persistent wastefulness in front of the goal.

On Tuesday night in Austria, the West Londoners put on a strong performance. Goals from Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz sealed a 2-1 victory and guaranteed Chelsea’s spot in the round of 16.

Although Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Kohn played brilliantly, Aubameyang, who had six efforts on goal, wasted several golden opportunities, which might have put Chelsea out of reach in the first half.

While the Blues’ performance was largely very encouraging, it had some of the hallmarks of the profligate displays that were such a regular occurrence under Thomas Tuchel – where they struggled to finish off the chances they created, and which Aubameyang was supposed to help solve.

However, Potter believes there is no residual effect from the presidency of his predecessor and is convinced Chelsea can immediately recover their shooting form.

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When asked if he was worried about Chelsea’s waste, especially given that it was an issue before he arrived, Potter responded saying:

‘I can’t comment on anything before I was here. All I can say is it’s good that we create chances and perform well. Then you back the quality of the players that the more they get there, the more chances we create, then the quality will come through. So it’s not so much of a concern.’

Asked how satisfied he was with the performance, Potter continued: ‘Very. It’s not easy to win here as you can see from the record they have and the quality of the team. We had to play well and I thought we did. We created some good chances in the first half and were unlucky not to go more than 1-0 up.

‘Then one action, with the quality at this level, and it’s 1-1. I thought out response was really good then so I am delighted to go through, delighted with the performance of the players: I thought they were fantastic tonight. To go through with a game to spare is brilliant considering where we started the competition.

‘It’s not easy to create chances against this team because defensively they are so intense and aggressive. I thought we did create some good chances from good play.

‘We’ve had a lot of games and a little bit of disruption in terms of some key players missing, but credit to the boys they’ve responded really well.

‘They’ve picked up points in the Premier League and to go through like we have in the Champions League is a fantastic effort from everybody. We will take steps, it will not be a straight road, unfortunately. But we will take steps and tonight was one I think.’

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Chelsea advanced to the round of 16 in the Champions League, but Tuesday night’s match in Austria was anything but easy. The Blues had to fight hard for their 2-1 triumph, but the excellent goals they scored showed their exceptional quality.

In impressive fashion, Chelsea advanced to the Champions League knockout round.

The Blues had to work hard to earn their 2-1 victory over Red Bull Salzburg, but in the end, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz’s spectacular goals proved the Blues’ superiority.

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Midway through the first half, Kovacic instinctively stroked a loose ball from the edge of the box into the top corner to give Chelsea the lead after a shaky start to the game.

The Salzburg striker Junior Adamu skillfully converted a precise cross to give Salzburg the lead early in the second period as the visitors continued to control possession.

After Jorginho had seen an effort cleared off the line, Havertz produced a sensational winner, controlling the ball on the edge of the box before curling a sublime strike in off the underside of the crossbar.

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Coach Graham Potter has revealed one Chelsea player that has really impressed him since he arrived and during the training sessions.

Potter asserts that Ruben Loftus-Cheek has “truly impressed” him this year and rates the Chelsea midfielder’s prospects of being selected for the England World Cup team.

Loftus-Cheek has been a dependable member of the Stamford Bridge squad this season, appearing in all 11 of Chelsea’s Premier League games.

The 26-year-old has experienced recurrent injury problems in previous seasons, which have slowed down his development. However, he now appears to be past his fitness hurdles and is establishing himself as a key player on Potter’s side.

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On and off the field, Loftus-Cheek has “really pleased” Potter, who thinks his performance could gain him a spot in England’s World Cup squad.

‘Ruben has really impressed me, on and off the pitch,’ Potter said ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday night.

‘He is a humble guy who wants to learn and improve. He’s clearly benefitted from more game-time, but the way he has trained is really, really good when he hasn’t played. So that has allowed him to build his fitness up.

‘Clearly, he needs a good fitness level to carry that big body of his around the pitch, but his quality is there. He is fantastic on the ball, great physicality, great athlete. I think he is putting himself in a situation where he will be one of the players Gareth [Southgate] will be looking at as an outsider for the squad. But that is Gareth’s decision.’

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has spoken and sent Champions League warning ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Milan.

The footballer says Chelsea must beat AC Milan at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night if they are to make it out of their Champions League group.

The Blues enter the game at the bottom of Group E after drawing with Red Bull Salzburg and losing to Dinamo Zagreb. Graham Potter’s team would risk exiting the Champions League at the group stage for the first time since 2013 if they made another mistake.

Chelsea head into the clash with Milan off the back of a confidence-boosting victory over Crystal Palace. Aubameyang got off the mark for the Blues in the 2-1 win at Selhurst Park and will likely lead the attack on Wednesday against the Rossoneri, who he spent four years with early in his career.

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In a little more than a week, the San Siro will host the rematch. Aubameyang is optimistic that Chelsea can get through their doubleheader with Milan and advance to the knockout round after spending five years away from the Champions League while playing for Arsenal and Barcelona.

“Maybe we will get our first three points at home. I think this is really important – if we want to qualify we have to win the game,” the striker explained after the win at Palace. “These two games are key and we will have to show character like we did against Crystal Palace on Saturday and win those two games.”

The first Chelsea goal by Aubameyang was impressive. The striker’s superb turn and volley against Palace evened the score and gave the Blues the chance to go on and win all three points.

Aubameyang said:

“It feels very good to score, to tell the truth, even more so that we won the game, We had a great attitude, even though we were down at one point, we came back and showed great character and I am really happy. When you are a striker you just want to get that first goal as soon as possible and it came today, so I am really happy.”

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