Russia (bbabo.net), - The 18th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup (a tournament organized by FIFA between the winners of the club competitions of each of the six confederations and the champion of the host country) starts today in the UAE. Matches will be held from 3 to 12 February.
Initially, the tournament was supposed to be held in Japan, but in September last year in Tokyo they abandoned this idea, as a result of which FIFA moved the competition to the Emirates. The current Club World Cup is expected to be the last in the usual format, as the tournament will later be expanded to 24 teams. It will have to be held every four years, like the Confederations Cup before, completely replacing it.
In the first match of the opening tournament, the UAE champion Al Jazeera will host the Australian Auckland. The winner of this pair will play on February 6 in the quarterfinals with the Al-Hilal club from Saudi Arabia (the winner of the Asian Champions League). Al-Ahly (Egypt) and Monterrey (Mexico) will compete for one more ticket to the semi-finals.
From the semi-final stage of the Club World Cup will begin their performances of the Brazilian "Palmeiras" and the main favorite of the competition winner of the Champions League "Chelsea". The Blues have never won this trophy yet. They had a great chance in 2012, but lost to Corinthians in the final. According to London team coach Thomas Tuchel, his players will do everything possible to win another title.
- When you participate in such a forum, the only thing that worries you is victory. Perhaps, if you don't play in it, you have a slightly lukewarm attitude towards this tournament. This is my personal opinion, maybe I'm wrong, - said Tuchel.
Since the first Club World Cup, only two representatives of the English Premier League - Manchester United and Liverpool - have won the prestigious cup. Chelsea have a good opportunity to become third on this list and, after triumphing in the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, win another title.
The main favorite of the tournament is the winner of the Champions League "Chelsea"
“An opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day. I think it is unnecessary to somehow additionally motivate the players. Everyone understands perfectly well what needs to be done, Tuchel summed up.
In the meantime
The South Korean national team will play in the final stage of the World Cup for the tenth time in a row. In the match of the eighth round of qualifying for the world championship in the Asian zone, the team of Paulo Bento beat Syria 2-0 away and secured a ticket to the competition in Qatar. Earlier, Brazilians, Argentines, Germans, French, Belgians, Spaniards, British, Dutch, Danes, Croats, Serbs, Swiss and Iran made their way to the 2022 World Cup. Plus, Qatar will play in the competition as the host. The Russian national team, which will play at home against Poland in the semi-finals of the play-off tournament on March 24, can also join this company. On the eve it became known that this meeting will not take place at Luzhniki, as originally planned, but at the home arena of the capital's Dynamo.
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