2023 Club World Cup: What to know as Manchester City, Fluminense head to Saudi Arabia with Leon, Al-Ittihad

Manchester City hope to become the 11th European team in a row to win the FIFA Club World Cup when they head to Saudi Arabia at the end of the month.

The reigning UEFA Champions League winners booked a spot in the tournament thanks to their European title and will be joined by the five other continental champions plus reigning Saudi Pro League victors Al-Ittihad, who enter the competition as the hosts. While City will hope to extend Europe’s winning streak at a tournament the continent has historically dominated, the other six hope to take a chance at playing spoiler as Pep Guardiola’s side eye one final trophy of the year.

All seven teams will take part in a bracket but will enter at different times as they eye the club accolade during the 12-day long tournament, which runs from Dec. 12 to 22 in Jeddah.

Here’s what you need to know about the annual tournament.

Qualified teams

• Manchester City (2022-23 UEFA Champions League winner)
• Fluminense (2023 Copa Libertadores winner)
• Leon (2023 Concacaf Champions League winner)
• Al-Ahly (2022-23 CAF Champions League winner)
• Urawa Red Diamonds (2022 AFC Champions League winner)
• Auckland City (2023 OFC Champions League winner)
• Al-Ittihad (2022-23 Saudi Pro League winner)

How it works

The competition begins with Al-Ittihad’s matchup against New Zealand’s Auckland City in the first round. The winner is set to play Egypt’s Al-Ahly in the second round, while another second round match will take place between Mexico’s Leon and Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds.

The winner of the second match involving Al-Ahly will then advance to the semifinals and play Brazil’s Fluminense. Leon or the Red Diamonds, meanwhile, will play Manchester City in the semifinals. The last two teams standing will then face off in the Dec. 22 final, and the two losers of the semifinals will also play in a third place match.

Schedule

All times Eastern

• Match 1 (first round): Tuesday, Dec. 12 — Al-Ittihad vs. Auckland City, 1 p.m.
• Match 2 (second round): Friday, Dec. 15 — Al-Ahly vs. winner of Match 1
• Match 3 (second round): Friday, Dec. 15 — Leon vs. Urawa Red Diamonds, 9:30 a.m.
• Match 4 (semifinals): Monday, Dec. 18 — Fluminense vs. winner of Match 2, 1 p.m.
• Match 5 (semifinals): Tuesday, Dec. 19 — Manchester City vs. winner of Match 3, 1 p.m.
• Match 6 (third-place match): Friday, Dec. 22 — loser of Match 4 vs. loser of Match 5, 9:30 a.m.
• Match 7 (final): Friday, Dec. 22 — winner of Match 4 vs. winner of Match 5, 1 p.m.

Previous champions

• 2000: Corinthians 
• 2005: Sao Paulo 
• 2006: Internacional 
• 2007: AC Milan 
• 2008: Manchester United
• 2009: Barcelona 
• 2010: Inter Milan 
• 2011: Barcelona 
• 2012: Corinthians 
• 2013: Bayern Munich
• 2014: Real Madrid 
• 2015: Barcelona 
• 2016: Real Madrid 
• 2017: Real Madrid 
• 2018: Real Madrid 
• 2019: Liverpool
• 2020: Bayern Munich 
• 2021: Chelsea
• 2022: Real Madrid

Golden Ball winners

• 2000: Edilson (Corinthians) 
• 2005: Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo) 
• 2006: Deco (Barcelona) 
• 2007: Kaka (AC Milan) 
• 2008: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 
• 2009: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan) 
• 2011: Messi (Barcelona) 
• 2012: Cassio (Corinthians) 
• 2013: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) 
• 2014: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) 
• 2015: Luis Suarez (Barcelona) 
• 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 
• 2017: Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 
• 2018: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 
• 2019: Mo Salah (Liverpool) 
• 2020: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 
• 2021: Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
• 2022: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)