NEW YORK: The final of next year’s expanded Club World Cup will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Saturday. The stadium, which is home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, had already been chosen as the venue for the 2026 World Cup.

The first edition of the expanded 32-club tournament will kick-off on June 15 and conclude at MetLife on July 13. A total of 12 venues will be used for the tournament with only two of them on the West Coast—the Rose Bowl in Pasadena near Los Angeles and Lumen Field in Seattle.

The tournament is taking place at the same time as the regional CONCACAF Gold Cup which will be held mainly on the West Coast. The other venues which will host games are—Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)and Audi Field (Washington, DC).

The draw for the tournament will be held in December -- 30 of the 32 places have already been secured through the qualification procedure. The Club World Cup will feature title winning teams from each of FIFA’s continental confederations.

Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich are among the 12 European teams who have qualified for the tournament while Argentina’s River Plate and Boca Juniors and Brazil’s Flamengo are among six South American teams.

“This new FIFA competition is the only true example in worldwide club football of real solidarity and inclusivity, allowing the best clubs from Africa, Asia, Central and North America and Oceania to play the powerhouses of Europe and South America in an incredible new World Cup which will impact enormously the growth of club football and talent globally,” said Infantino.

The FIFA president announced the venues on stage at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York. FIFA also announced a four-year partnership with Global Citizen to support their anti-poverty initiatives. As part of the agreement Global Citizen will produce the half-time show at the 2026 World Cup final.

The tournament will be viewed as a key test ahead of the 2026 World Cup itself and there will be a focus on security issues after crowd problems at July’s Copa America games at the stadiums in Charlotte and Miami. FIFA has yet to announce any broadcast deals or sponsorship contracts for the tournament and the competition has faced some opposition within the game. FIFpro and the European Leagues body filed a joint complaint to the European Commission against FIFA over the introduction of the tournament into the international match calendar.

Opponents of the new tournament have said it adds further congestion to an already crowded schedule and increases the workload of players.

The last version of the Club World Cup featured seven teams in a knockout format and was won by Manchester City who beat Brazil’s Fluminense in the final in Saudi Arabia. FIFA plan to hold the expanded tournament every four years although no host as yet to be chosen for the 2029 edition. — AFP