The FIFA Club World Cup underwent a major expansion from its traditional eight teams to 32 teams for this year’s edition.
This enabled FIFA to increase the number of participating teams from each continent based on their clubs’ coefficient performance in continental tournaments over the past four years.
Africa got four slots, and based on performance assessments, Espérance de Tunis of Tunisia, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Al Ahly of Egypt, and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa were rated as the top-performing African clubs in the CAF Champions League during that period.
Last night, after their 4–1 defeat to Juventus and a 2–0 loss to Manchester City in their first Group G game, Wydad Casablanca was knocked out of the tournament without earning a single point.
Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance Tunis remain the only African teams to have won a game in the tournament, . In their first game, Sundown defeated Ulsan Hyundai and were narrowly beaten by Borussia Dortmund in their second match. Their chances of qualifying for the knockout round are still high, as they sit just one point behind Fluminense and Dortmund in Group F.
Al Ahly, in Group A, have earned only one point from their first game, in which they held Inter Miami to a goalless draw. They sit at the bottom of their group and must win their remaining matches to stand a chance of advancing to the next round.
Espérance Tunis is another team that has had a strong showing in the tournament. They recorded a win against Los Angeles FC. Following Chelsea’s loss to Flamengo in their last game, they are now level on points (3) with Espérance Tunis, whom they face next.
Since Enyimba’s impressive back-to-back CAF Champions League victories in 2003 and 2004, no Nigerian club has reached the final of the tournament, despite frequent qualifications.
FIFA is expected to award around ₦3.3 billion to teams that participated in the group stage, a significant financial miss for Nigerian clubs and the Nigerian Football Federation.
