Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2017: All you need to know ahead of draw
The Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2017 is less than two months away from taking place, with matches being played in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
Further details ahead of the event, as well as the schedule, will be confirmed today when the draw for the tournament takes place in Abu Dhabi.
Ahead of today’s event, here is what to look out for and what we already know about what will be the third time the competition has been held in the UAE after previous stagings in 2009 and 2010.
Who is competing?
Four of the seven teams have been confirmed for the December 6-16 event: Real Madrid (European champions), Mexico’s FC Pachuca (Concacaf champions), New Zealand’s Auckland City (Oceania champions) and Al Jazira (host representatives).
The three remaining teams, the champions from South America, Africa and Asia, will be decided next month.
Madrid are the defending champions having last year won the tournament for the second time last December, and they will be the first side to win the competition two years in a row if the Primera Liga champions are triumphant this time around.
Who plays who?
The only match already confirmed features UAE champions Jazira against Auckland City at Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on December
6. The winner of that encounter progresses to the second round to join Pachuca, the AFC champions and the Caf champions.
They will be drawn randomly as teams A, B, C and D. Team A will then face Team B (Match 2), with Team C taking on Team D (Match 3). Both quarter-final matches will be played at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City on December 8.
For the semi-finals, Madrid and the winners of South America’s Copa Libertadores join the competition. The two sides will be drawn randomly against either the winner from Match 2 or the winner from Match 3. The defeated teams in each round meet to contest a play-off for fifth place and third place, respectively, with the latter match played on the day of the final: December
16. Both the third-place playoff and the final take place at Zayed Sports City.
When is the draw made?
The draw begins at 12pm (UAE time) on Monday, at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi. The ceremony will be streamed live on Fifa’s official website.