Morocco is set to host the Fifa Club World Cup less than two months after the Atlas Lions remarkable performance at the World Cup.
The FIFA tournament, the first on the African continent, kicks off on Wednesday, and will see continental champions lock horns against each other to determine the best club in the world.
Introduced in 2005, the Club World Cup has been held annually, featuring the six winners of each continent’s equivalent of Europe’s Champions League tournament, plus an additional club from the host nation.
Since its inception, European teams have dominated the tournament, with only Brazilian club, Corinthians, breaking the monopoly when it defeated Chelsea in the 2012 final.
Unlike the World Cup where there is a group stage, the clubs will play a straight knockout tournament but with a caveat that various continents qualify for different stages of the tournament.
In this format, the champion of Oceania will play the host club, in the first round with the winner drawn with the champions of Africa, Asia and North America in two knockout games.
The winner of each game will then play the European and South American champions in the semifinals.
Wydad Casablanca which is both the champion of Morocco and Africa, will relinquish the role of ‘host’ to Egyptian club Al Ahly, who lost to the Moroccan team in the final of the African Champions League in May.
Wydad will enter the tournament at the quarterfinal stage, playing against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia with South American champion Flamengo waiting in the semifinals.
Real Madrid will enter at the semifinal stage and will face either New Zealand club Auckland City, Al Ahly, or the Seattle Sounders, the first ever US club to play in the Club World Cup.