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Rabat – As the 2023 Club World Cup is fast approaching, the seven participating clubs are gearing up to produce a strong performance at the tournament, which is set to take place in Morocco between February 1 and 11.
The participating clubs will play a total of seven games to determine the winner of the sporting event. Here are the full Club World Cup fixtures.
First round
February 1
8:00 pm GMT+1: Egypt’s Al Ahly vs New Zealand’s Auckland City
Venue: Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Second round
February 4
6:30 pm GMT+1: US’ Seattle Sounders vs Al Ahly or Auckland City (winner of match 1)
Venue: Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
3:30 om GMT+1: Morocco’s Wydad vs Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal
Venue: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Semi-finals
February 7
8:00 pm GMT+1: Brazil’s Flamengo vs Wydad or Al Hilal (winner of match 3)
Venue: Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
February 8
8:00 pm GMT+1: Spain’s Real Madrid vs winner of match 2
Third-place play-off
February 11
4:30 pm GMT+1: loser of match 4 vs loser of match 5
Venue: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Final
February 11
8:00 pm GMT+1: winner of match 4 vs winner of match 5
Venue: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Postponed twice
The upcoming tournament was set to take place in late 2022 but was postponed to the Qatar World Cup, which was exceptionally held during winter, unlike the tournament’s past editions which took place in summer.
This was not the first time that the Club World Cup was postponed. The tournament was scheduled to take place in China in 2021 with a new 24-team format and be held every four years. However, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently revealed plans to launch an even more extended version of the Club World Cup starting in 2025. Similar to the World Cup, the new version will feature 32 clubs and be held every four years.
The fast-approaching sporting event will mark the first time that Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be demanded to justify and explain the reasons behind their decisions.
