Chelsea aim to make amends for rare European slip-up at the Fifa Club World Cup

Chelsea were the last European champions not to go on and become world champions. They lost in the final of the 2012 Club World Cup. They will get another chance to lift the trophy at the delayed 2021 Club World Cup that started in the United Arab Emirates yesterday. What should we expect from them and the others taking part?

The Club World Cup usually brings together the champions of Fifa’s six regional confederations: Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, Oceania and South America. There is usually a guest team from the host country to raise local interest. So, typically, seven participants.

The Club World Cup has been run along those lines since 2005. There have been playoffs for third/fourth place and, apart from one year, for fifth/sixth place. So it was nearly always possible to define exact finishing positions – from first for the winners down to seventh for losers in the preliminary round.

The average finishing positions have been: 1.2 for the champions of Europe, 2.2 for the champions of South America, 4.1 for the champions of North and Central America and the Caribbean, 4.3 for the champions of Asia, 4.5 for guests, 4.9 for the champions of Africa and 6.4 for the champions of Oceania.

For brevity from now on, I will refer to North and Central America and the Caribbean by the abbreviation for its confederation name: Concacaf.

You can see that European champions did best, South American champions next best, and also that there was not a lot of difference between the champions of Africa, Asia and Concacaf and guests. The Oceanian champions did worst.

European champions enter at the semi-finals. No European team have lost in the semi-finals. Three lost in the final and 13 won the final.

South American champions also enter at the semi-finals. Five were beaten in the semi-finals, eight were beaten in the final and three won the final.

The champions of Africa, Asia and Concacaf enter at the quarter-finals. They can be called quarter-finals because they come before the semi-finals but there are only two of them. There are only two of them because only two teams can go forward to join the two automatic semi-finalists. The other quarter-finalists are the winners of a preliminary round between the representatives of Oceania and guests.

No Asian team have reached the final. TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the 2010 final where they lost to Inter. No other African team have reached the final. Tigres of Mexico reached the 2020 final where they lost to Bayern Munich. No other Concacaf team have reached the final.

Three guest teams have reached the final. Raja Casablanca of Morocco lost to Bayern Munich in 2013, Kashima Antlers of Japan lost to Real Madrid in 2016 and Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates lost to Real Madrid in 2018. Champions of Europe a record 13 times, Real have won the Club World Cup a record four times.

Eleven times the champions of Oceania have lost in the preliminary round, three times they have lost in the quarter-finals and once they have lost in the semi-finals. Another time, because of Covid, they did not enter.

Chelsea will be joined at the 2021 Club World Cup by Palmeiras from Brazil (South American champions), Monterrey from Mexico (Concacaf champions), Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia (Asian champions) and Al Ahly from Egypt (African champions). AS Pirae from Tahiti, representatives rather than champions of Oceania, were due to play guests Al Jazira from the United Arab Emirates in the preliminary round on Thursday. Because of Covid there was no Oceanian championship in 2021.

Some of these teams have met before.

Chelsea beat Monterrey in the 2012 semi-finals. Then they lost in the final to Corinthians of Brazil, who are Sao Paolo rivals of Palmeiras. Chelsea can only play Monterrey this year if both reach the final or both go into the third/fourth playoff.

Monterrey will start Saturday with a quarter-final against Al Ahly, who they have beaten twice – in a third/fourth playoff in 2012 and a fifth/sixth playoff in 2013. In another third/fourth playoff in 2019 Monterrey beat Al Hilal on penalties. As well as losing to Chelsea in the 2012 semi-finals Monterrey also lost to Liverpool in the 2019 semi-finals. This is Monterrey’s fifth appearance at the Club World Cup, the most by a club from Concacaf.

Al Ahly will be appearing for the seventh time, a record for a club from Africa. Their best achievement came in 2020 when they finished third after beating Palmeiras on penalties.

Overall the performances of Al Ahly and Monterrey have been close to those of others from their regions. European teams have won the last eight tournaments. Will Chelsea put right what went wrong in 2012 and turn eight into nine?

Head-to-heads from region to region

Here are the 90-minute results from previous years of some match-ups that will or could be repeated this year.

Concacaf champions playing African champions have won four times, drawn three times and lost three times - Monterrey will play Al Ahly in a quarter-final on Saturday.

South American champions playing Concacaf champions won once, drew twice and lost once. Against African champions they won three, drew one and lost one. Palmeiras will play either Monterrey or Al Ahly in a semi-final on Tuesday.

European champions beat Asian champions seven times out of seven. Chelsea could play Al Hilal in the other semi-final on Wednesday.

The record of European champions against South American champions is won six, drawn two and lost three. Chelsea could play Palmeiras in the final next Sunday – or the third/fourth playoff the same day.

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