Why are Chelsea involved in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer?
Many have been asking on Google after hearing that Manchester City and Chelsea will be the only two English clubs partaking in the competition this summer – despite the fact Liverpool are close to winning the Premier League.
| Position | Team | Played MP |
Won W |
Drawn D |
Lost L |
For GF |
Against GA |
Diff GD |
Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool |
29 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 69 | 27 | 42 | 70 |
| 2 |  ArsenalArsenal |
29 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 53 | 24 | 29 | 58 |
| 3 |  Nottm ForestNottingham Forest |
29 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 49 | 35 | 14 | 54 |
| 4 |  ChelseaChelsea |
29 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 37 | 16 | 49 |
| 5 |  Man CityManchester City |
29 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 55 | 40 | 15 | 48 |
| 6 |  NewcastleNewcastle |
28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 47 | 38 | 9 | 47 |
In contrast, Chelsea sit fourth – while Manchester City are actually as low as fifth – so how comes the Blues and the Citizens are involved instead of Liverpool? Let’s take a look.
FIFA Council opted to allow just two clubs in the Club World Cup per country
Those on the FIFA Council met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia back in December to agree on the qualifying criteria for the 2025 Club World Cup, where it was decided that only two clubs per country could partake.
Liverpool have not made the cut due to the fact Manchester City – who want Florian Wirtz – and Chelsea are the two most recent winners of the UEFA Champions League from England.
The two club per country limit is overlooked if there are more than two UEFA Champions League winners from one country across the four-year qualifying cycle, although Real Madrid won the competition in those years, meaning Liverpool miss out.
FIFA Club World Cup prize money
Manchester City and Chelsea, who like Randal Kolo Muani, could earn the largest amount of prize money ever awarded in club football across a seven-game competition.
FIFA have announced a total prize fund worth £775m – with £407m of that chunk divided between all participating clubs, before performances are even taken into account.
💸 How much a team can win in the FIFA Club World Cup vs the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League 💷 pic.twitter.com/bM2sqUQ4X0
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 26, 2025
If Manchester City or Chelsea are victorious in all of their group phase games and go on to win the competition, it would secure them a total of £97m – the maximum prize available.
- Group phase win (£1.5m)
- Reaching the Last 16 (£5.8m)
- Reaching the quarter-final (£10.2m)
- Reaching the semi-final (£16.3m)
- Reaching the final (£31m)
