From seven teams at the 2023 edition in Saudi Arabia, the tournament has grown to 32 sides with 63 games to be played across the United States.

While Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds were the Asian side who qualified for the 2023 edition and Al Ittihad FC taking up the host slot, the 2025 edition will see four Asian clubs competing for honours - Al Hilal SFC (AFC Champions League™ 2021 winners), Urawa (AFC Champions League™ 2022 winners), Al Ain FC (AFC Champions League™ 2023/24 winners) and Ulsan HD FC (AFC ranking pathway).

All the Asian sides will have the opportunity to test their credentials against big-name clubs with Urawa facing FC Inter Milan of Italy, Ulsan up against Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, Al Ain pitting themselves against Manchester City of England and Al Hilal facing up to the challenge of Spanish giants Real Madrid.

To prepare for the FIFA Club World Cup, each team worked on strengthening themselves with Rui Patricio, Facundo Zabala and Nassim Chadli among nine new signings at Al Ain, Ali Lajami bolstering Al Hilal’s defence, Yago Cariello and Erick Farias spearheading Ulsan’s revitalised attack while Danilo Boza, Takuro Kaneko and Matheus Savio give Urawa a new outlook.

Asia will not only be represented by the four clubs but also by nine other Asian players at eight different participating clubs - Mehdi Taremi (Inter), Wessam Abou Ali (Al Ahly FC), Zhou Tong (Auckland FC), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Sota Kitano & Takumu Kawamura (FC Salzburg), Abdukodir Khusanov (Manchester City), Lee Kang-in (PSG) and Kim Kee-hee (Seattle Sounders FC).

When the competition kicks off on June 15, Urawa midfielder Takeshi Wada will be the youngest player registered for the tournament at the tender age of 16 years and 10 days. Closest to him are two other 16-year-olds in Dortmund’s Mathis Albert (16 years 24 days) and Bayern’s Cassiano Kiala (16 years 154 days).

Al Hilal full-back and Portuguese international Joao Cancelo is the player with the most connections at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, having played for Benfica, Inter Milano, Juventus, Manchester City and Bayern.

What Kaio Cesar lacks in height, he delivers in quality. The Al Hilal forward - at 1.60 metres - is the joint-shortest player in the competition together with Fluminense’s Yeferson Soteldo. Mamelodi Sundowns duo Siyabonga Mabena and Thato Sibiya stand at 1.62m.

Ulsan HD’s Kim Pan-gon is the only Asian featuring as a head coach at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, with the tactician in his second season with the two-time Asian champions.