Why aren't Liverpool playing in CWC? How all 32 teams qualified for competition

They may be Premier League kings and six-time champions of Europe, but Liverpool won't be at the FIFA Club World Cup, with Manchester City and Chelsea taking UEFA's two places

Newcomers to the upcoming Club World Cup could be forgiven for asking, ‘Why aren’t Liverpool involved?’ The revamped 32-team tournament in the United States kicks off on June 14 when Inter Miami face Egyptian side Al Ahly at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

The FIFA-run competition, which is aiming to challenge the UEFA Champions League as the world’s elite club competition, concludes on July 13 with the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. With just two clubs from each national association allowed, Manchester City and Chelsea will be England’s representatives.

Liverpool and Arsenal have missed out despite being regulars at the top of the Premier League and Champions League contenders in recent seasons. The main qualifying criteria is Champions League success, with the last four winners invited prior to this year. Chelsea and City got the nod courtesy of winning it in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

With Real Madrid winning the Champions League in 2022 and 2024, the other nine of Europe’s 12 spots were decided by UEFA rankings. That would have let in 2022 runners-up Liverpool had City and Chelsea not qualified by winning the tournament.

New European champions Paris Saint-Germain qualified due to their Champions League performances in the four-year cycle, when they were regulars in the knockout stages. Europe’s other qualifiers via UEFA rankings are Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg.

Pep Guardiola’s City will play Wydad AC of Morocco in their opening Group G fixture on June 18, before taking on Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and finishing against Italian giants Juve. Chelsea start in Group D against Mexican side Leon on June 16, then play Brazilians Flamengo and ES Tunis of Tunisia.

The top two from each group advance to the round of 16. Should both English clubs progress to the knockout stages as group winners, they would go into opposite sides of the draw and not meet until the final, should they both get there.

The involvement of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, who are in Group A as the host nation team, is controversial. The Herons won the regular-season Supporters Shield, but then missed out on being crowned Major League Soccer champions after losing to Atlanta in the MLS Cup play-offs. Miami are joined in Group A by Brazilians Palmeiras and Porto.

Palmeiras, one of six teams from the South American federation CONMEBOL, qualified courtesy of winning the Copa Libertadores. Fellow Brazilian sides Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo also qualified by winning South America's version of the Champions League in recent seasons, while the Argentine pair, Boca Juniors and River Plate, are in courtesy of their CONMEBOL ranking.

The other US representatives are the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles, who won the Concacaf Champions League in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Meanwhile, in 2021 and 2024, the competition was won by Mexican pair Monterrey and Pachuca, who are also involved.

Asian trio Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, Japan's Urawa Reds and Al Ain booked their places by winning the continent's Champions League. The other Asian spot is filled by South Korea's Ulsan HD courtesy of their ranking.

Al Ahly won the Confederation of Africa Football's Champions League three times in four seasons, while the other winners during the qualification cycle were Wydad AC.

The other African spots are filled by ES Tunis and Mamelodi Sundowns (South African), again due to their continental ranking.

Finally, Auckland City are Oceania's sole representatives after winning their federation's Champions League.

Following a tough Premier League season, Liverpool and Arsenal are unlikely to be upset about not being in action in the US this summer. In fact, their absence could give them an advantage ahead of next season.

That's according to England boss Thomas Tuchel, who said: “I think [the Club World Cup] will have a huge impact and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there."