An expanded FIFA Club World Cup takes place this summer in the United States. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are the two Spanish clubs who will take part in the event which kicks off in Miami on Friday June 14th 2025.
The action will take place in 12 different stadiums, spread across 10 states from Ohio to California. Real Madrid are one of the favourites to lift the trophy, with an implied win probability of around 20% when using Fanatics Ohio betting promosalthough the likes of Manchester City, PSG and Bayern Munich will provide strong competition.
This will be the biggest ever Club World Cup, a tournament that was first held in Brazil in the year 2000. Prior to that, the Intercontinental Cup was largely regarded as the competition which crowned the club world champions, with the winners of the UEFA Champions League (formerly European Cup) usually taking on the Copa Libertadores holders.
Unsurprisingly, given their dominance of the Champions League in recent years, Real Madrid are the team that has won the FIFA Club World Cup the most times with five titles.
They’ve won the trophy on each of their five previous appearances in the competition, although the 2025 edition will be the first time that they’ll need to see off European opposition in order to lift the trophy.
Los Blancos won the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in 2014, beating San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 in the final in Morocco. A hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016 final against Kashima Antlers of Japan started a three-year winning streak, while their most recent triumph came thanks to a 5-3 win against Al Hilal in the 2022 final.
Real Madrid’s summer 2025 schedule sees them kick off their latest FIFA Club World Cup campaign with another meeting against Al Hilal in Miami.
The second most successful side on the FIFA Club World Cup winners list is Barcelona, with their three titles coming between 2009 and 2015.
The first two were achieved under Pep Guardiola’s guidance, with final victories coming against Estudiantes in 2009 and Santos in 2011, with a young Neymar in the opposing team on the latter occasion against the club he would later join.
Barca’s most recent Club World Cup appearance was in 2015, with Luis Suarez scoring five of their six goals as Guangzhou Evergrande and River Plate were swept aside in Japan.
The Catalans are also one of the few European clubs to have ever lost a Club World Cup final, with Internacional of Brazil upsetting them in 2006.
The Intercontinental Cup started in 1960, the year in which Real Madrid won their fifth European Cup. They backed it up by defeating Peñarol 5-1 on aggregate to become the first ever Intercontinental Cup winners. The Uruguayans gained revenge six years later however, defeating Los Blancos in both legs of the 1966 final.
More than three decades would pass before the side from the Spanish capital would appear in the competition again. By this point, the Intercontinental Cup had been reduced to a single-legged match played in Japan. Real Madrid won the 1998 and 2002 editions, but lost 2-1 to Boca Juniors in 2000.
Those victories mean they were the joint most successful club in the competition’s history when it was disbanded in 2004.
Real Madrid also defeated Pachuca to win the first FIFA Intercontinental Cup in 2024although confusingly enough, that is not regarded as the same competition as the original Intercontinental Cup.
Despite having never been crowned kings of Europe, Atletico Madrid did compete in the Intercontinental Cup in 1974, after defending European champions Bayern Munich declined to take part. Atleti, runners-up in the 1973/74 European Cup, stepped in and duly won the trophy with a 2-1 aggregate win over Independiente of Argentina.
Atleti have never even played in a FIFA Club World Cup, let alone won it, however that will change this summer. They are in a potentially tough group alongside PSG, Botafogo and Seattle Sounders.
Barcelona also appeared in the Intercontinental Cup on one occasion following their first European Cup win, but were beaten 2-1 by Sao Paulo in Tokyo in 1992.
They’ve contributed to Spanish clubs winning eight FIFA Club World Cups since 2009, but their poor performance in European football in more recent years means they won’t take part in this summer’s event.
