Morocco prepares to host the Club World Cup

Since the designation of Morocco as the host of the Club World Cup, both the capital Rabat and Tangier have reinforced their facilities, increased security in the stadiums and prepared the city for the arrival of clubs and fans. The competition will be held between 1 and 11 February 2023. As was the case in Agadir and Marrakech in 2013, and in Rabat and Marrakech in 2014, Tangier and Rabat are preparing for the occasion. On both occasions the winners of the competition were the European team, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively, but in a football that is becoming more and more evenly matched it is likely that we will see some surprises.  

This year's edition of the Club World Cup, known as the Mundialito, formerly known as the Intercontinental Cup, will be the 19th edition with the new format (63rd if we count from its birth) and will have seven participants: Real Madrid (Europe), Wydad Casablanca (Africa), Flamengo (Copa Libertadores champion), Seattle Sounders (CONCACAF), Auckland City (Oceania), Al-Hilal (Asia) and Al-Ahly (Africa). Among the favourites are Real Madrid as the main contenders to win the competition, the team from the host country's capital Wydad Casablanca and Flamengo as the representative of South American football. It should be noted that Wydad, the reigning champions of Morocco and Africa, will play their first match in Rabat. 

Morocco is committed to making the new edition of the Club World Cup a success, as it has and possesses all the means and advantages to do so. Thanks to the vision of King Mohamed VI, Morocco has made great progress in modernising its infrastructure, especially its railways. The railway plan culminated in the inauguration of the high-speed train connecting Rabat to Tangier in just two hours. The semi-finals will be held in Tangier and the final will be in Rabat, and both sites have everything in place to host the competition in the best conditions. The organising committee has started renovation work on the Ibn Battuta stadium in Tangier and the Mulay Abdelah stadium in Rabat (repair of the pitch and renovation of the facilities) to make them ready to host the matches.  

Al-Ahly and Auckland City will play each other for a place in the second round where Al-Hilal, Seattle Sounders and Wydad await them. The winners of the play-offs in that round will advance to the semi-finals, where the UEFA Champions League winners and the Copa Libertadores winners are already in action. The draw for the pairings will take place on Friday 13 January at the Mohamed VI de Sale Football Academy in Rabat. The first round will be played on the first day of the competition, the second round on 4 February, the first semi-final on 7 February, the second semi-final on 8 February and the final and the third and fourth place play-offs on 11 February. 

The team that has won this tournament the most times with four titles is the white team, which won it in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The Madridistas have also won the Intercontinental Cup three times. Carlo Ancelotti's team, the favourites, will arrive in Morocco on 5 February. As for the other big team, Flamengo, it will be their second appearance in three years in the new format, three if you count the Intercontinental Cup they won in 1981. The Brazilians made it to the final in 2019 against Liverpool, but Roberto Firmino's extra-time goal thwarted the Carioca's dream. Meanwhile, the North African side will be hoping to at least match the feat of their rivals (Raja Casablanca) in 2013, who reached the final and finished runners-up to Bayern Munich.