Who was in the FIFA Club World Cup 2023? Teams and bracket for tournament in Morocco

Kyle Bonn

Who was in the FIFA Club World Cup 2023? Teams and bracket for tournament in Morocco image

The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup was the latest edition of a competition which brings together the continental champions from different regions with the goal of crowning the best club in the world.

The 2023 tournament was held in Morocco between February 1-11 and featured a total of seven participants.

This competition is regularly held in December, but due to the 2022 men's FIFA World Cup for national teams taking place in Qatar, the FIFA Club World Cup was pushed back to February 2023. It's why it is officially referenced as the 2022 FIFA World Cup despite taking place in calendar year of 2023.

The Sporting News outlines the teams that will do battle in the hope of succeeding English club Chelsea for the title of best in the world.

MORE: Complete schedule for the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup

Teams in 2023 FIFA Club World Cup

Seven clubs participated in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup: the champions of six continents, plus one berth provided to the host nation champion. The latter slot needed to be reassigned in 2023.

Since Moroccan champions Wydad Casablanca had already qualified for the competition as defending African champions, their place as host nation was transferred to the runner-up of the African tournament, Al Ahly of Egypt.

Real Madrid were the European representatives after winning the UEFA Champions League title. Los Blancos participated in the competition on five previous occasions, winning it four times. Entering 2023, the European participant had won this competition in the previous nine instances, with Brazilian side Corinthians being the last non-European club to win, beating Chelsea 1-0 back in 2012.

The Seattle Sounders were the first Major League Soccer club to ever participate in the FIFA Club World Cup, since Mexican Liga MX previously long held a stranglehold on North America's CONCACAF Champions League.

The Asian participant, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, was nominated by the conference as their participant because the 2022 AFC Champions League will not be completed until May of 2023 due to COVID-19 postponements. Therefore, previous champions Al Hilal were selected to participate in the 2023 Club World Cup.

MORE: FIFA Club World Cup prize money in 2023

Club Country Region How qualified Participation (Titles)
Real Madrid Spain Europe UEFA Champions League
winner
6th (4)
Flamengo Brazil S. America Copa Libertadores
winner
2nd
Seattle Sounders USA N. America CONCACAF Champions League winner 1st
Al Hilal Saudi Arabia Asia AFC Champions League winners 3rd
Al Ahly Egypt Africa CAF Champions League
runners-up (host nation berth)
8th
Wydad Casablanca Morocco Africa CAF Champions League
winners
2nd
Auckland City New Zealand Oceania OFC Champions League
winners
10th

MORE: Chelsea's road to the last FIFA Club World Cup title

2022 Club World Cup fixtures

With seven participants, the bracket featured an unconventional construction.

There was a first round game, featuring the host nation against the Oceania participant. Since the host nation berth was assigned to Al Ahly of Egypt, they faced Auckland City.

The winner of the opening match was joined by the teams from North America, Africa, and Asia in the second round, while the European and South American participants entered the fray in the semifinals.

All matches took place in Central European Time (CET), one hour ahead of GMT in London, six hours ahead of ET in the United States and Canada, and 10 hours behind AEDT in Sydney, Australia.

First Round

Date Time (Local) Fixture  
Wed, Feb. 1 20:00 CET Al Ahly 3-0 Auckland City Highlights

Second Round

Date Time (Local) Fixture  
Sat, Feb. 4 15:30 CET Wydad Casablanca 1-1 Al Hilal
(Al Hilal advanced 5-3 on penalties)
Highlights
Sat, Feb. 4 18:30 CET Seattle Sounders 0-1 Al Ahly Highlights

Semifinals

Date Time (Local) Fixture  
Tue, Feb. 7 20:00 CET Flamengo 2-3 Al Hilal Highlights
Wed, Feb. 8 20:00 CET Al Ahly 1-4 Real Madrid Highlights

Third Place

Date Time (Local) Fixture  
Sat, Feb. 11 16:30 CET Flamengo 4-2 Al Ahly Highlights

Final

Date Time (Local) Fixture  
Sat, Feb. 11 20:00 CET Real Madrid 5-3 Al Hilal Highlights

FIFA Club World Cup expansion

On December 16, 2022 FIFA announced the launch of an expanded 32-team Club World Cup set for June 2025 and held in the summer every four years, similar to the World Cup for national teams.

It's still unclear how the 32 spots will be allocated to each region and what the qualifying criteria will be. But FIFA president Gianni Infantino did make clear that the intention is that "they will be the best teams in the world".

Original plans for expansion of the tournament called for a 24-team Club World Cup to be played in 2021, but that tournament never got off the ground, due to scheduling conflicts and fixture congestion from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new expanded tournament is set to replace the FIFA Confederations Cup, which in the past served as a test run for the men's World Cup host country the year before the tournament. That could explain why the USA is reportedly a potential host for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, one year prior to the 2026 men's FIFA World Cup.

Kyle Bonn

Kyle Bonn Photo

Kyle Bonn, is a Syracuse University broadcast journalism graduate with over a decade of experience covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in soccer tactics and betting, with a degree in data analytics. Kyle also does TV broadcasts for Wake Forest soccer, and has had previous stops with NBC Soccer and IMG College. When not covering the game, he has long enjoyed loyalty to the New York Giants, Yankees, and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when not watching or covering sports.