National teams
Compare club tournaments with squads assembled for a few weeks.
Read national teamsClub competitions cross familiar borders
Club trophies look alike from a distance, but the 2025 winners earned theirs in very different ways. One title was settled by a five-goal margin in Munich, another by a 32-team tournament staged in the United States. Reading the structure first shows what each win says about a club, and what it leaves out.
A league phase now opens the Champions League
From the 2024–25 season, UEFA replaced the traditional eight groups of four with a single league phase of 36 clubs. Each club plays eight matches against eight different opponents instead of meeting the same three rivals home and away. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, while clubs placed ninth to 24th play off for the remaining places.
The knockout rounds then run in two legs until the final, a single match at a neutral ground. Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter Milan 5–0 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, the widest margin in a European Cup or Champions League final, and the club's first title in the competition. Inter had reached the final by edging past Barcelona over two legs in a semi-final that went to extra time.
Path of a Champions League campaign
- League phase. Eight matches, one table of 36 clubs.
- Play-offs. Two-leg ties for the clubs ranked ninth to 24th.
- Round of 16 to semi-finals. Two legs per tie, decided on aggregate.
- Final. One match at a neutral stadium.
The Club World Cup became a month-long tournament
FIFA's 2025 Club World Cup in the United States was the first edition with 32 clubs. Places went to continental champions from a four-year qualifying window, plus further clubs from the strongest confederations chosen on ranking. Eight groups of four fed a single-match knockout bracket.
Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain 3–0 in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a result that surprised many after PSG's run through Europe. Earlier rounds produced sharper upsets. Botafogo of Brazil beat PSG 1–0 in the group stage, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia beat Manchester City 4–3 after extra time in the round of 16, and Fluminense of Brazil reached the semi-finals.
Because every knockout tie was one match, the format magnified a good or bad afternoon. That is the distinction to hold onto: both competitions feature elite clubs, but the Champions League tests a season-long route and the Club World Cup tests a few weeks of tournament football.
The second-tier European cups crown different clubs
The Europa League and Conference League run alongside the Champions League and use the same 36-club league-phase model. In the 2025 finals, Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United 1–0 in Bilbao to win the Europa League, and Chelsea beat Real Betis 4–1 in Wrocław to win the Conference League. Tottenham's win came despite a difficult domestic league season, a reminder that a cup run and a league campaign are separate stories.
A club can finish a season with a trophy and a disappointing league table, or the reverse. Neither contradicts the other, because each competition measures something different.
Four club formats side by side
| Competition | Entrants | Route | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions League | 36 clubs | League phase, play-offs, two-leg knockouts | Single match | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Europa League | 36 clubs | Same model, second entry tier | Single match | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Conference League | 36 clubs | Same model, third entry tier | Single match | Chelsea |
| Club World Cup | 32 clubs | Eight groups, single-match knockouts | Single match | Chelsea |
How a club earns a place
- Domestic league finish
- Most European places come from a club's position in its national league, which is why league titles and continental trophies are linked.
- Continental title
- Winning a continental competition earns a route into later tournaments and, for the Club World Cup, a place in the global field.
- Ranking
- Some Club World Cup places went to clubs ranked highest over a four-year window within their confederation.
Questions to ask of any club title
- Was it won on a league table, a bracket or both?
- Was the decider a single match or a two-leg tie?
- Which clubs were never in the field?
- Has the format changed since? Check the organiser's own website, because formats are revised from time to time.
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League seasons
See how a table and a bracket decide titles in different ways.
Read league seasons