Covid-19 sees China’s Fifa Club World Cup delayed, Japan to host 2021 instead

Postponed 2020 edition will take place in February in Qatar with 2021 tournament to follow next December

Gianni Infantino says new-look 24-team format ‘will be the best club competition in the world’ but it may not take place before 2025

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Joe Gomez’s Liverpool shirt marks their 2019 Fifa Club World Cup win. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:18pm, 5 Dec 2020Updated: 12:18pm, 5 Dec 2020

World football governing body Fifa has announced that the revamped 24-team Club World Cup, originally set to begin in China next year, will no take place in 2021 but it will happen.

Instead, the tournament will be played in its current seven-team format and be held in Japan, Fifa announced after a meeting of its council on Friday.

“Due to the Covid-19 situation … we‘ve decided to organise a Club World Cup in the current format again in 2021 in December and we awarded the hosting rights to Japan,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said after the meeting.

Next year will now see two Club World Cups on the calendar as football reacts to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino holds a ball while speaking at a press conference during the football federation's Council meeting in Shanghai in October, 2019. Photo: AFP

The first – the 2020 edition – will be held in Qatar in February before the 2021 tournament is played in December.

Fifa’s 2021 calendar already has to make room for the Uefa European Championships and the Copa America that were delayed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.