European champions Manchester City will face Club Leon of Mexico or Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals in December in Saudi Arabia after the draw on Tuesday.
In the other semi-final, the Copa Libertadores winners, yet to be decided, will face Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad, Auckland City of New Zealand or Egypt’s Al Ahly.
The host nation’s champions, Saudi Pro League winners Al-Ittihad, will kick off the competition against Auckland City.
Al-Ittihad will hope to repeat Al-Hilal’s run last year, when they became the first Saudi club to reach the final. They lost the decider to Real Madrid, the competition’s most successful club with five titles.
As yet there are no previous holders in this year’s edition. Internacional of Brazil are the only previous winners who could still take the final available place in the competition.
CONMEBOL’s participant will only be known after the Copa Libertadores final on Nov. 4 with Argentina’s Boca Juniors and Brazil’s Palmeiras, Fluminense and Internacional in contention.
The Club World Cup will be played from Dec. 12-22 and held in Saudi Arabia for the first time as announced in February. The city of Jeddah will host the competition in two venues.
The 2023 edition will be the last of the current format — an annual competition with seven teams — before it expands to a 32-team event to be held in 2025 in the United States.
Club World Cup draw:
First Round
Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) v Auckland City (New Zealand)
Second Round
Al Ahly(Egypt) v Al-Ittihad/Auckland City
Club Leon (Mexico) v Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
Semi-finals
CONMEBOL Representative v Al Ahly/Al-Ittihad/Auckland City
Leon/Urawa Red Diamonds v Manchester City (England)
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
