Izuchukwu OkosiAfrican club champions Al Ahly of Egypt and Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca will represent Africa at the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in 2025.
The world football governing body, FIFA have increased the numbers of participating teams to 32 and the United States been designated as the hosts.
The north African giants join Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea who also already earned two slots in the tournament due to their recent UEFA Champions triumphs.
Other teams already qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup are: Palmeiras (Brazil), Flamengo (Brazil), Monterrey (Mexico), Leon (Mexico), Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
League winners for the expanded tournament lineup that is set to test stadiums and operations one year before the 2026 World Cup.
The United States will host the men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and FIFA could yet give some Club World Cup games to those countries.
The Club World Cup will take place in June-July 2025. The United States was chosen as host Friday during an online meeting of the FIFA Council.
FIFA praised “the United States’ position as a proven leader in staging global events and because it would allow FIFA to maximize synergies with the delivery” of the 2026 tournament.
The Seattle Sounders also are in the lineup for the Club World Cup as the 2022 champion of North American soccer region CONCACAF. The Americans should get another entry as the host nation.
Storied European teams have visited the United States for preseason friendly games for years but the expanded club tournament will give fans a rare chance to see 12 of them play competitive games.
FIFA said in March the basic qualification path for clubs was to win a continental championship in any of the four years from 2021 to 2024 in the five main confederations: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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