The drawing pots for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup were announced ahead of Thursday’s group stage draw, with Mamelodi Sundowns being placed in pot 4.
Masandawana could be in for a tricky group as they will be paired with one team of the other pots.
- ALSO READ: Mngqithi Addresses Technical Team Situation At Downs
- New Face Spotted At Pirates Training
In pot 1 are the highest-ranked teams, including the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
With Sundowns qualifying via the ranking pathway, while Al Ahly and Wydad Athletic Club qualified as previous CAF Champions League winners, Manqoba Mngqithi’s side find themselves in pot 4 alongside ES Tunis.
Meanwhile Ahly and Wydad are in pot 3, but neither of the CAF teams can face each other in the group stages.
A potential Group of Death could be Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Al Hilal and Sundowns…
Join the iDiski Times WhatsApp Channel for all latest SA football news directly to your phone.
FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ pot allocation:
Pot 1: Manchester City (ENG), Real Madrid C. F. (ESP), FC Bayern München (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), CR Flamengo (BRA), SE Palmeiras (BRA), CA River Plate (ARG), Fluminense FC (BRA)
Pot 2: Chelsea FC (ENG), Borussia Dortmund (GER), FC Internazionale Milano (ITA), FC Porto (POR), Atlético de Madrid (ESP), SL Benfica (POR), Juventus FC (ITA), FC Salzburg (AUT)
Pot 3: Al Hilal (KSA), Ulsan HD (KOR), Al Ahly FC (EGY), Wydad AC (MAR), CF Monterrey (MEX), Club León (MEX), CA Boca Juniors (ARG), Botafogo (BRA)
Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN), Al Ain FC (UAE), Espérance Sportive de Tunisie (TUN), Mamelodi Sundowns FC (RSA), CF Pachuca (MEX), Seattle Sounders FC (USA), Auckland City FC (NZL), Inter Miami CF (USA)
FIFA also confirmed the following drawing constraints:
Several constraints will be implemented throughout the draw, including the general principle that no group can feature more than one team from the same confederation. This applies to all confederations except UEFA (Europe), which will be represented by 12 clubs at the tournament.
Therefore, four of the eight groups will feature two European clubs. A paired seeding principle based on the confederation rankings will be applied to the teams of pot 1 when allocating their respective groups.
Other constraints will dictate that clubs from the same member association cannot be grouped together and all clubs from pot 1 will be allocated to the first position of the group into which they are drawn.
