How the 2024 FIFA Club World Cup Draw Was Conducted: Full Breakdown and Key Details

Introduction

The 2024 FIFA Club World Cup draw was held on December 5, 2024, at the Telemundo headquarters in Doral, Florida. This pivotal event, hosted by Alessandro Del Piero, determined the group stage compositions and set the stage for a thrilling tournament. FIFA’s detailed draw process balanced sporting merit and geographic considerations to ensure a competitive and diverse event.

Draw Procedure and Seeding Pots

Two days before the draw, FIFA announced the procedure and the seedings, carefully grouping teams based on their confederation rankings and geographic factors. The teams were divided into four pots:

Pot 1: The top four clubs from UEFA and CONMEBOL

Pot 2: The remaining eight UEFA teams

Pot 3: The two highest-ranked teams from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, plus two remaining from CONMEBOL

Pot 4: Remaining teams from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, OFC, and the host nation

Draw Restrictions and Group Formation

To maintain fairness, teams from the same confederation could not be placed in the same group—except UEFA teams, where one or two per group were allowed. Additionally, UEFA teams from the same country could not be drawn together.

Knockout Stage Pathways

The knockout stage was designed with two distinct pathways:

Pathway 1: Winners of Groups A, C, E, G paired with runners-up of Groups B, D, F, H

Pathway 2: Winners of Groups B, D, F, H paired with runners-up of Groups A, C, E, G

These pathways ensured competitive balance and delayed potential clashes between top-ranked UEFA and CONMEBOL teams until the semifinals.

Key Constraints for UEFA and CONMEBOL Teams

UEFA and CONMEBOL teams ranked 1–2 were assigned to different pathways, preventing early encounters.

Teams ranked 3–4 from these confederations were similarly separated.

UEFA teams ranked 1–4 were grouped to avoid meeting before the semifinals.

CONMEBOL teams ranked 1–4 followed the same rule.

UEFA teams ranked 5–8 were drawn with CONMEBOL teams ranked 1–4.

.UEFA teams ranked 9–12 were drawn alongside UEFA teams ranked 1–4.

Host Nation and Scheduling Considerations

Inter Miami CF and Seattle Sounders FC, representing the host nation, were automatically assigned to position 4 of Groups A and B respectively. Teams drawn into these groups were allocated positions according to their seed pot.

Draw Execution

The draw began with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 4. Teams were allocated alphabetically to the first available group that met all constraints. For Groups C through H, team positions within the groups were drawn to finalize the match schedule, with Pot 1 teams assigned automatically to position 1.