The FIFA Club World Cup is coming to Cincinnati, TQL Stadium

Cincinnati missed out on hosting games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but it's getting the next best thing: FIFA's Club World Cup in 2025, which is the highest level of club soccer in the world.

On Saturday, FIFA announced that Cincinnati was one of 12 host cities for its expanded-field 2025 Club World Cup. Thirty-two clubs will contest the highest-level championship in club soccer, which teams qualify for through continental tournaments like the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The tournament kicks off June 15 and will crown its champions July 13 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Joining FC Cincinnati's TQL Stadium as a host venue are the following stadiums: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle), and Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).

“Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and in 2025 a new era for club football will kick off when FIFA stages the greatest, most inclusive and merit-based global club competition right here in the United States,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a news release. “The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will feature 12 fantastic stadiums where a new chapter in football’s global history will be written by great players from the 32 best clubs in the world... 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."

TQL Stadium is no stranger to high-profile matches of international interest. In November 2021, the venue hosted the historic U.S.-Mexico FIFA World Cup qualifying match. It has also hosted a number of high-profile friendlies between national teams, and hosted international club matches during the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

What is the FIFA Club World Cup?

Like the teams that represent countries around the world, club teams from across the globe also participate in a World Cup-type tournament to crown a true world champion.

The most recent Club World Cup, staged in Saudi Arabia in 2023, saw England's Manchester City FC win the tournament. Brazil's Fluminese was runner-up.

Al Ahly FC of Egypt, perhaps the biggest club in Africa and the Middle East, finished in third place. Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds finished in fourth place.

All the aforementioned clubs are giants of the game globally, but the Club World Cup that year hosted only its usual seven teams − one from each of the FIFA's governing confederations. Seattle Sounder FC of MLS participated in the 2023 tournament as champion of CONCACAF, and FC Cincinnati's run in the most recent CONCACAF Champions Cup was for a spot in the 2025 Club World Cup.

Thirty of the 32 teams for the 2025 Club World Cup are set. The remaining two spots will be filled by the host country, the U.S., and by the South American confederation.

A draw to determine the group stage for the eight four-team groups will take place in December, according to a FIFA news release.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The FIFA Club World Cup is coming to Cincinnati, TQL Stadium