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Revision as of 23:15, 14 September 2005 by Cursive (talk | contribs) (→2000 tournament)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The FIFA Club World Championship is a football (soccer) competition contested between the leading clubs from all 6 continental confederations.
The first competition took place in Brazil in January 2000. It was intended by FIFA to be a replacement for the Intercontinental Cup (also known as the Toyota Cup), which is contested annually in Tokyo, Japan by the champions of Europe and South America. No agreement was reached with the Toyota Cup's sponsors, and so the Toyota Cup went ahead on November 30 1999, with Manchester United beating Palmeiras 1-0.
The new tournament was not universally popular, but nevertheless a second edition was pencilled in for Spain in 2001, to feature 12 teams. This was cancelled owing to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL. It was then intended to hold the event in 2003, but this also failed to happen. FIFA eventually agreed terms with the Toyota Cup to merge the two competitions, and the first installment of the relaunched Club World Championship is scheduled to be held in Japan between December 11 and December 18 2005.
2000 tournament
The clubs invited to the 2000 tournament were:
| Al Nassr | Saudi Arabia | 1998 Asian Super Cup winners |
| Corinthians | Brazil | 1998 Campeonato Brasileiro winners |
| Manchester United | England | 1999 UEFA Champions League winners |
| Necaxa | Mexico | 1999 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners |
| Raja Casablanca | Morocco | 1999 African Champions Cup winners |
| Real Madrid | Spain | 1998 Intercontinental Cup winners |
| Vasco da Gama | Brazil | 1998 Copa Libertadores winners |
| South Melbourne | Australia | 1999 Oceania Club Championship winners |
The selection of the invited clubs was controversal. While few complained about the legitimacy of Al Nassr (Asian champions), Manchester United (European champions), Necaxa (North American champions), Raja Casablanca (African champions), Vasco da Gama (South American champions) and South Melbourne (Oceania champions) competing, questions were raised about the inclusion of Corinthians and Real Madrid. Corinthians had only won the Brazilian league and not any international competition while Real Madrid won the Intercontinental Cup (which the Club World Championship was meant to replace) not most recently, but two finals ago.
Matches were played in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The teams were organised in 2 groups of 4 teams, with the top team in each group going through to the final (with the second-placed teams contesting a third-place playoff).
Group A Table
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Corinthians | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| 3 | Al Nassr | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 4 | Raja Casablanca | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
Group B Table
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Vasco da Gama | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | Necaxa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | South Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
Corinthians were the eventual winners, beating their Brazilian compatriots Vasco da Gama 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw, whilst in the third-place playoff Necaxa defeated Real Madrid 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Manchester United's participation was controversial, as they insisted on being allowed to sit out the 1999-2000 FA Cup (of which they were the reigning champions) in order to travel to Brazil. The Football Association reluctantly agreed, partly to assist England's bid to host the
.
2005 tournament
Qualifying teams
The 2005 tournament will feature only the 6 confederation champions, to be decided during 2005:
- Europe: Liverpool FC
- South America: São Paulo
- Africa: To be determined
- Asia: To be determined
- CONCACAF: Deportivo Saprissa
- Oceania: Sydney FC
Format
The competition will be a knockout tournament so each team will play two or three matches. The champions of the 4 "weaker" confederations will play in the quarter-finals; the losers will play in a fifth/sixth place match. The winners will then be joined by the European and South American champions in the semi-finals; the losers will play in a third/fourth place match. The full draw is as follows:
Quarter-finals
1. AFC Champions v CAF Champions
2. Sydney FC v Deportivo Saprissa
Semi-finals
3. Winner 1 v São Paulo
4. Winner 2 v Liverpool FC
Match for 5th place
5. Loser 1 v Loser 2
Match for 3rd place
6. Loser 3 v Loser 4
Final
7. Winner 3 v Winner 4
The matches will be held in Tokyo's National (Olympic) Stadium, Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Aichi near Nagoya and the International Stadium in Yokohama, where the final will be played. For marketing purposes it is known as the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup.
External links
| International association football | ||
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| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
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| Non-FIFA | ||