Saudi Arabian Football Federation announces that KSA will host the FIFA Club World Cup 2023 scheduled to take place from December 12-22.
FIFA said in a statement “In relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2023, which is due to be played under the current format with seven clubs, the FIFA Council unanimously appointed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation as tournament hosts from 12 to 22 December 2023.”
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The surprise decision was made at a FIFA Council meeting and came only a few days after Real Madrid lifted the trophy in Morocco after a thrilling 5-3 win over Al-Hilal, the first Saudi club to reach the final of the tournament.
Saudi Arabia will be only the sixth host of the competition since its inception in 2000.
The Gulf nation, earlier this month, was awarded the hosting rights of the men’s Asian Cup 2027 and is also bidding to host the Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in 2026.
The FIFA Council also confirmed a change in the format of the tournament from June 2025 — to expand the FIFA Club World Cup from 24 to 32 teams — with 12 teams from Europe involved along with six from CONMEBOL, while CONCACAF, CAF, and the AFC will each have four, with one place for the OFC and another for the hosts.
In addition, the Council also confirmed that the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, namely Canada, Mexico, and the USA, will qualify automatically as the joint hosts of the tournament, with their slots, therefore, being deducted from the overall allocation of six assigned to Concacaf.
Remember here one thing the selection process for hosting the FIFA Club World Cup involves a bidding process and a number of factors are considered before a host country is chosen. These factors include the host country’s infrastructure, transportation, security, accommodation, and the potential for financial success. The decision to award the hosting rights to a particular country is made by the FIFA Council based on these criteria.
