7 of the world’s best soccer clubs will play at the Rose Bowl in 2025
The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 is being hosted in the United States, and one of the venues selected to host group stage matches is the Rose Bowl. Matches at the Rose Bowl are scheduled for June 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25, officials announced Monday. The entire tournament -- which features the best [...]
The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 is being hosted in the United States, and one of the venues selected to host group stage matches is the Rose Bowl.
Matches at the Rose Bowl are scheduled for June 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25, officials announced Monday. The entire tournament -- which features the best club soccer teams from across the world -- runs from June 14 to July 13.
But which exact teams will face off against each other in Pasadena this June? Find out below:
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain (commonly referred to as PSG) is widely considered to be the best club team in France, playing in Ligue 1. Since 2012, they have won the league every year except 2016 and 2020.
While they might not boast the star power they recently had (Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappé -- considered to be three of the world's best players -- played there together between 2021 and 2023) the team is still stacked with talent, including Achraf Hakimi, who helped lead Morocco to a fourth place finish at the 2022 World Cup and is regarded as one of the best full backs in the sport.
2025 will mark the first time PSG participates in the FIFA Club World Cup. They qualified for the tournament due to being a high-ranked club team based on metrics including their performance in continental tournaments (e.g. UEFA Champions League) between 2021 and 2024.
Atlético de Madrid
Atlético de Madrid will be making the trek from the Spanish capital to SoCal this summer to participate in the group stage of the 2025 Club World Cup. Since current manager Diego Simeone took the reins in 2011, the club has become a mainstay at the top of La Liga, Spain's highest-level professional soccer league, finishing in the top four every season for the last 13 years and winning the whole thing twice.
Some of Atlético's top players include World Cup winning forwards (Antoine Griezmann, France 2018; Julián Alvarez, Argentina, 2022), as well as Jan Oblak, a Slovenian goalkeeper widely regarded as one of the top goalies in the world.
Similar to PSG, Atlético Madrid qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup due to having a high four-year ranking in European club tournament play; the club has achieved high finishes in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League every season since 2007.
Botafogo
Brazilian club Botafogo will be one of two South American club teams playing at the Rose Bowl this June. The reigning champions of Brazil's Série A league, Botafogo is one of the historically best teams in Brazil; the team won 52 matches in a row between 1977 and 1978, and Botafogo also claims the record for most players called up to the Brazil national team for World Cups.
For context, Brazil is the most successful team in World Cup history, having won the tournament five different times.
Although Botafogo no longer boasts many household names (such as Garrincha, who helped Brazil to the 1962 World Cup title after Pelé got injured) the club remains one of South America's most successful teams. They qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup on the back of winning the 2024 Copa Libertadores, the continent's premier club competition.
C.F. Monterrey
C.F. Monterrey is northern Mexico's oldest active professional team and one of the most popular in the entire country. The 2025 tournament marks their sixth appearance in the Club World Cup and first since 2021, when they finished fifth.
The club has churned out players for the Mexico national team over the years and currently features several prominent players who represented the country during past international tournaments such as Jesús Manuel Corona and Héctor Moreno.
Having qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup by winning the CONCACAF Champions League in 2021, Monterrey is tied for fifth place in Liga MX as of Tuesday.
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate, known simply as River Plate or just River, is the other South American team that will play group matches at the Rose Bowl in June 2025. River Plate are one of the two most popular club teams in Argentina alongside Boca Juniors, who also qualified for the upcoming Club World Cup.
River Plate is Argentina's most successful club by number of domestic trophies won (54) and has seen contemporary greats (such as Gonzalo Higuaín and Javier Mascherano) and Argentine legends alike (Alfredo Di Stéfano, Hernán Crespo) don their signature red and white kits.
The club qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup thanks to their high four-year continental competition ranking even though they won their 38th league title last season.
FC Internazionale Milano
Known around the soccer world as Inter Milan or simply Inter, this giant club is no stranger to winning trophies, having won the 2023-24 Serie A title and previously winning five successive titles in the mid 2000s. They were the first Italian team to win the "treble" of Serie A, the Coppa Italia (comparable to the NBA in-season tournament) and the UEFA Champions League.
Inter Milan is a fixture in European club competition and regularly has some of the world's most talented players among their ranks. That said, they have only featured in the Club World Cup once previously, back in 2010 when they beat Congolese team TP Mazembe for the trophy.
The club, whose current players include Marcus Thuram (son of Lilian Thuram, who is considered to be one of the best defenders in soccer history) and Marko Arnautović (Austria's second-highest goal scorer ever), qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup due to their high UEFA four-year ranking.
Urawa Red Diamonds
One of Japan's winningest sides, Urawa Red Diamonds will head to the Club World Cup for the fourth time in their history, most recently featuring in 2023's tournament.
In continental competition, Urawa Red Diamonds have found success in the AFC Champions League, winning three times (2007, 2017 and 2022) and finishing as runners-up once, in 2021. Domestically, they have won a joint-record eight Emperor's Cup titles.
Urawa Red Diamonds qualified for the upcoming Club World Cup on the back of their 2022 AFC Champions League win.
The group stage matchups taking place at the Rose Bowl can be viewed below:
FIFA recently published the entire 63-game match schedule for the tournament's 32 participating teams. The other venues hosting matches this summer include:
- MetLife Stadium -- East Rutherford, New Jersey (New York City area)
- Bank of America Stadium -- Charlotte
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium -- Atlanta
- Lincoln Financial Field -- Philadelphia
- Lumen Field -- Seattle
- Hard Rock Stadium -- Miami Gardens, Florida
- Geodis Park -- Nashville
- TQL Stadium -- Cincinnati
- Audi Field -- Washington, D.C.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami will represent the U.S. in the upcoming tournament, gaining their berth as the host nation. Seattle Sounders, the winners of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, hold America's other spot.
Ticket sales for the 2025 Club World Cup begin on Dec. 19 exclusively on their official ticketing site.
The full list of participating teams can be viewed here.
What's Your Reaction?
