Sun | May 17, 2026

Club World Cup set for February in Qatar

Published:Wednesday | November 18, 2020 | 12:16 AM
Bayern’s scorer Robert Lewandowski (centre) celebrates with teammate after their second goal during the German Bundesligamatch between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, November 7, 2020.
AP
Bayern’s scorer Robert Lewandowski (centre) celebrates with teammate after their second goal during the German Bundesligamatch between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, November 7, 2020.

ZURICH (AP):

The pandemic-delayed Club World Cup will be played next year in Qatar from February 1-11, FIFA said yesterday.

Only two of the seven tournament places – European champions Bayern Munich and Qatari champions Al-Duhail – have currently been decided. The 2020 Club World Cup line-up should be completed after the Copa Libertadores final in late January.

The FIFA-run club tournament was originally scheduled for mid-December in Qatar, but the CONCACAF Champions League final will not be played until December 22 in Orlando, Florida, and the Asian Champions League final is scheduled for December 19 in Doha.

HOSTING REPUTATION

Qatar has proven its ability to host games safely, with the Asian Champions League being played in the country in a biosphere bubble since it resumed in the group stage in September.

The 2020 Club World Cup was intended to be the last edition with only seven teams.

FIFA’s plans to launch a 24-team version in China in June 2021 were put on hold by the pandemic. That month is now taken for the European Championship and Copa America tournaments, which were postponed by one year.

FIFA could try for a June 2022 launch but all competition calendars will be congested ahead of the next World Cup in November of that year in Qatar.