Barcelona vs. Atletico: Battle for the 2025 Club World Cup

Barcelona’s hopes for the Club World Cup hang in the balance as they face Paris Saint-Germain.

The battle for the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States is a hot topic in the UEFA Champions League. If Barcelona is eliminated on Tuesday against Paris Saint-Germain, they will also exit the FIFA tournament, and Atletico Madrid will qualify. The Colchoneros team, defending their 2-1 lead against Dortmund today, leads Barcelona by six points (77 to 71) in the rankings based on the results of the last four editions of the UEFA Champions League.

Coli’s lead can be reduced to just three points after the second leg of the quarterfinals (a win earns two points, a draw adds one point, and advancement to the next round earns one point), so in the potential semifinal, two draws could be enough for them to reach the final and secure a place in the 32-team Club World Cup for an entry fee of around 50 million euros. In case of a tie in points, the team with the most points this season will win the tiebreaker, which would favor Barcelona.

If both Atletico and Barcelona qualify, they could potentially face each other in the semifinals, but the scenarios depend on the results of Tuesday’s matches. If they both advance by winning the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, Atletico will remain ahead by six points. In the semifinal round, Barcelona will only be able to earn five points (two for each win and one for reaching the final) and will need to win at Wembley to secure direct entry as champions of 2021 (Chelsea), 2022 (Real Madrid), and 2023 (Manchester City).

If Atletico loses to Dortmund and Barcelona defeats Paris Saint-Germain, the gap between Barcelona and Atletico will decrease to four, but Xavi’s team will need to win both semifinal matches against Colchoneros to qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup without having to win the final. London on Saturday, June 1st. In addition to Real Madrid, Chelsea, and City, there are seven other European teams that have qualified from a total of 12 spots: Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Porto, and Benfica. The other two tickets will go to either Atletico or Barcelona and Salzburg or Arsenal. London residents can only get a passport if they win this edition of the UEFA Champions League.