The Fifa Club World Cup is finally here and this tournament has lots more to it than the prize money being offered.

The pride and honor in being called the “BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD” is at stake and each of the teams participating will want to clinch their hands on the prestigious trophy.

 

 

Fifa President Sepp Blatter along with other delegates before the Club World Cup

 

What is Club World Cup :

This tournament is the equivalent to the FIFA World Cup when it comes to the club competitions though the viewership and importance is not at the same level as the World Cup. Nevertheless, it is of significant value for the participating clubs as the winner of this tournament will be crowned the champions of the world. The tournament consists of the the champions of the champions leagues of the six continents along with the best club from the host nation.

 

Teams participating :

 

Club	Country	Winners From
Chelsea	England	Europe (UEFA Champions League)
Al-Ahly	Egypt	Africa (CAF Champions League)
Corinthians	Brazil	South America (Copa Libertadores)
Ulsan Hyundai	South Korea	Asia (AFC Champions League)
Monterrey	Mexico	North America (CONCACAF Champions League)
Auckland City	New Zealand	Oceana (OFC Champions League)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Japan	Host (J. League Division 1)

 

Format :

• The tournament is a knockout tournament consisting of Quarter finals, Semi finals and Finals.

• The competition consists of 7 teams. The top 2 leagues with highest ratings according to Fifa are Europe and South America. So the clubs representing these continents get a direct entry to the Semi Finals.

• Now of the remaining 5 teams, the host club Hiroshima plays against the least ranked club i.e. Aukland City(This match ended and resulted in a victory for Hiroshima).

• So Hiroshima along with the 3 remaining teams enters the tournament at the Quarter Final Stage.

 

Draw :

  The Draw gives us an easier understanding of the Format :

Play-off

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

6 December

Hiroshima

1

9 December

Auckland

0

Hiroshima

12 December

Al-Ahly

Winner Match 3

Corinthians

16 December

Winner Match 5

9 December

Winner Match 6

Ulsan Hyundai

13 December

Monterrey

Winner Match 2

Fifth place

Third place

Chelsea

Loser Match 2

Loser Match 5

Loser Match 3

Loser Match 6

12 December

16 December

 

GOAL LINE TECHNOLOGY :

Yes, it’s finally here. The first time ever in the game of football, the new and highly anticipated Goal Line Technology is being introduced. After heavy criticism from various countries and clubs throughout the last few years on the availability of a system which tells us whether the ball has actually crossed the goal line or not (whether a shot is a goal or not), Fifa has finally agreed to launch the much needed technology.

 

The censor inside the ball

 

 

To give you a very brief explanation of how it works, remember just this : There exists a censor inside the football. These are connected to the cables buried behind the goal line. If the ball has crossed the line a signal will be received in the watch of the referee within 1 second.

Hence this new technology will finally enter the footballing world.