- FIFA has officially stripped 11 clubs of their Club World Champion titles
- Only Chelsea are now recognised as world champions under the new format
- Previous winners have been reclassified as “Intercontinental Champions”
Key Takeaways:
The governing body of world football (FIFA) has officially decided to strip 11 clubs of the title of Club World Champions.
The reason — according to the organisation, the only club world champion is Chelsea, who won the trophy this summer in the first edition featuring 32 teams. The Club World Cup has been held for 25 years only with the champions of each continent.
The first ever #FIFACWC Champions. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/aNFuudOjrG
— FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) July 13, 2025
Until now, it had been won by 11 clubs, but those achievements have now been erased. The affected clubs are Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Corinthians, Inter, Milan, Manchester United, Internacional, and Sao Paulo, as well as Chelsea, who already held the titles of “Intercontinental Champion” and “World Champion”.
The first edition in the new format was won by Chelsea, who defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3:0 in the grand final.
Following that final, FIFA decided to make a revolution and declared Chelsea as the first world champion. Previous titles have been removed from the website, and the past winners are now listed under the category “Intercontinental Champions”.
The change has caused controversy — Real Madrid’s 2024 trophy was originally branded “Intercontinental”, yet their 2022 win was proudly labelled “FIFA Club World Cup Champions”, making it painfully clear that those in power at FIFA can not only rewrite the rules but shamelessly erase history in plain sight.