Three Premier League clubs set to play in next Club World Cup as FIFA bid to expand tournament won by Chelsea

According to The Times, FIFA are considering allowing three clubs from one country to participate in the next edition of the Club World Cup, which will be held in 2029. FIFA are ready to relax their restrictions of having a maximum of two clubs from one country, which saw only Manchester City and Chelsea take part in the tournament from England.

Many had criticised FIFA for not allowing the current champions of England, Spain and Italy to compete in the Club World Cup, as Liverpool, Barcelona and Napoli did not travel to the US, despite winning their respective national leagues. This led to questions being raised about whether the tournament was truly contested by the best clubs in the world. Increasing the number of teams per countries would help FIFA avoid such controversies in future. 

As FIFA look to expand the league to 48 teams from the next edition, they are likely to face opposition from UEFA, who are also against holding the tournament every two years instead of four. A FIFA council meeting will take place on Thursday, although the matters related to expansion are unlikely to be discussed there.

While a final decision is yet to be taken, FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani shared his opinion on the possible expansion of the competition, as he said: "After the first one, like running any business, after your first month you ask do you have enough people? Do you have the right product? We need to discuss with stakeholders like the ECA in Europe, was the format the right format? Do we need to have more clubs or do we have a different variety of clubs in terms of how they qualify?"