FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Real Madrid confirm participation in competition as Carlo Ancelotti clarifies stance

Real Madrid have confirmed they will participate in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

The newly-crowned European champions released a statement insisting they will take part in the expanded version of the competition next summer.

The club were reacting to earlier suggestions they would reject an invitation from FIFA following quotes from manager Carlo Ancelotti in the Italian media. Ancelotti has since said he was misquoted.

"Real Madrid CF would like to announce that at no time there has been any question regarding our participation in the new Club World Cup to be organised by FIFA in the coming 2024/2025 season.

"Our club will therefore take part, as planned, in this official competition and we are proud and excited to be involved in it and we will once again inspire our millions of fans all over the world with another trophy."

The new version of the Club World Cup is due to take place in June and July 2025, with 32 teams from around the world competing. This includes Madrid as part of the best-ranked 12 European club sides.

Questions have been raised around player fitness with the ever-increasing intensity of the footballing calendar and its impact on players.

As quoted by II Giornale in his native Italy, Ancelotti reportedly said: "FIFA can forget about that. Footballers and clubs will not participate in that tournament.

"A single Madrid match is worth €20 million and FIFA wants to give us that figure for the entire tournament: negative. Like us, several clubs will reject the invitation."

The 65-year-old has since moved to clarify this statement, saying: "In my interview with Il Giornale, my words about the FIFA Club World Cup have not been interpreted in the way I intended.

"Nothing could be further from my interest than rejecting the possibility of playing a tournament that I think can be a great opportunity to continue fighting for great titles with Real Madrid."

The current format of the Club World Cup sees seven teams compete in a straight knockout that takes place over a two-week period. Both the European (UEFA Champions League) and South American (Copa Libertadores) sides enter the competition at the semi-final stage.The new plans might mean an extra seven games for participating sides, and could take the possible number of games in Madrid's 2024/25 season up to an extraordinary 72.

The opening game in the United States would take place just two weeks after the Champions League final, leaving limited recovery time.

FIFPro and the PFA (Player's Football Association in England) have highlighted the tight schedule risks violating the minimum three-week off-season break stipulated in professional contracts.

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