The qualification process for the Club World Cup means some seemingly deserving teams are on the outside looking in

Rest, Strategic Focus, and the Club World Cup’s Commercial ShiftThis is an abridged version; the full article is available on our ‘It Was Always… Liverpool’ Substack page:

Paris Saint-Germain kicked off their 2025 Club World Cup campaign with a hugely impressive 4-0 win against Atletico Madrid. The European champions were far too good for their Group B opponents, who finished the match with 10 men after Clement Lenglet's second-half red card.

England boss Thomas Tuchel has said Liverpool and Arsenal will have a "huge advantage" in next season's Premier League title race due to not being involved in the Club World Cup.

Flamengo have competed in the Club World Cup twice before. In 2019, they reached the final after defeating Al Hilal in the semifinals but lost 1–0 in extra time to Liverpool. In 2022, they returned but finished third, having lost the semifinal to Al Hilal in a surprise upset before beating Al Ahly for third place.

The Club World Cup is underway in America but there is still some confusion among fans as to why some teams are there and others are not. The tournament has been completely revamped this year to effectively become an entirely new event,

Our three tips for Monday’s Club World Cup match between Chelsea and Los Angeles FC include a high-scoring win for the Blues