In this file photo from Nov. 23, 2024, Ulsan HD FC players and coaches celebrate with the K League 1 championship trophy following a 4-2 victory over Suwon FC at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean champions Ulsan HD FC will be in Pot 3 in this week’s draw for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, along with clubs from Africa, the North, Central America and Caribbean region and South America.
FIFA announced procedures for the expanded Club World Cup on Wednesday, with Miami set to host the draw at 1 p.m. Thursday in Eastern Time, or 3 a.m. Friday in South Korean time.
Featuring 32 teams for the first time, the qualified clubs have been split into four pots of eight. The respective confederation rankings used as part of the qualification process for the competition also applied to determine the position of each club within their confederation and allocate them to a pot accordingly.
As the lone South Korean club in the tournament, Ulsan HD will be in Pot 3 with the following teams: Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, Al Ahly FC of Egypt, Wydad AC of Morocco, CF Monterrey of Mexico, Club Leon of Mexico, Boca Juniors of Argentina and Botafogo of Brazil.
Pot 1 features the four highest-ranked teams from Europe and the four-best teams from South America, a group that includes two clubs featuring South Korean players: the German giants FC Bayern Munich with center back Kim Min-jae and the French champions Paris Saint-Germain with midfielder Lee Kang-in. All clubs from Pot 1 will be allocated to the first position of the group.
Pot 2 consists of the remaining eight teams from Europe, including Chelsea of England, Borussia Dortmund of Germany and Inter Milan of Italy.
Two remaining teams from Asia, Africa and the North, Central America and Caribbean region, alongside Oceania’s representative and the team representing the host country, Inter Miami CF, will be in Pot 4.
No group can feature more than one team from the same confederation, except Europe’s UEFA, which has 12 clubs at the tournament. This means that four of the eight groups will feature two European sides.
(Yonhap)
