Given the competitive nature of the club, FC Barcelona is always looking to compete for everything. A storied club for their past accolades of winning several trebles, Barcelona welcomes increased competition. However, to qualify for specific competitions, certain objectives have to be fulfilled.
For instance, to play in the UEFA Champions League, clubs in Spain have to finish in La Liga’s top four in the previous season. Another example would be the UEFA Super Cup, for which teams have to win either the Champions League or the Europa League.
One tournament in particular that Barcelona seem to have their eyes set on is the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. An expanded version of the normal Club World Cup, it will include 32 teams. However, Barça will first have to do either one of two things if they wish to make it.
As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, the only two ways that Barcelona can qualify both involve Atletico Madrid. With Real Madrid having won the 2021/22 Champions League, Los Blancos are already qualified. However, the second team in Spain that is currently eligible is Atletico Madrid, due to their UEFA coefficient rankings.
At the moment, Atletico are 7 points above Barcelona within those coefficient rankings. To overcome them and qualify, Barcelona can either go further than the team from Madrid in this season’s UEFA Champions League campaign, or simply win the competition entirely.
Specifically speaking, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are locked in a race to accumulate more ‘points’ in the Champions League. As outlined by FIFA’s qualification criteria for the 2025 Club World Cup, teams currently active in this season’s UEFA Champions League can secure 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and an extra point for advancing past the Round of 16.
In the scenario that Barça manage to win both legs in the Round of 16, they would manage to get 5 points. Simultaneously, they would have to hope that Atletico Madrid lose both their Round of 16 legs to ensure they get no points.
Moreover, Xavi’s side will also then hope to win at least one leg of their hypothetical quarterfinal draw and hope to progress to ensure a minimum of three points. This would, in totality, ensure that Barcelona have 8 points to overcome Atletico’s current lead of 7, giving Barça the edge by 1 point.
Secondly, by winning the tournament, they would guarantee qualification as the 2023/24 winners of the UCL. However, both these conditions are rather difficult and Barcelona will have to put in a real shift in Europe’s Premiere competition to have any hopes of making it to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Barcelona has previously won the Club World Cup on three separate occasions. Their wins came in 2009, 2011, and 2015. The next iteration of the Club World Cup in 2023 will not see Barcelona competing, but the grand 2025 iteration is what they keep their eyes and ears open for.
