FIFA confirm dates, Chelsea potential opponents in Club World Cup semifinal

FIFA have made the draw for this year’s Club World Cup competition, which has been postposed to early next year due to COVID-19 restrictions, with the venue also shifting from Japan to UAE.

Chelsea are one of seven teams participating in the competition, and we will be entering the tournament at the semi-final stage, wherein we will meet one of AFC champions Al Hilal, UAE league champions Al Jazira, or Oceania nominees Auckland City.

Al Jazira will square off against Auckland City in the tournament’s first round, with the winner on to face Al Hilal in the second round. The second round winner will then take on Chelsea.

Recently-crowned Copa Libertadores champions, Palmeiras, are on the other side of the draw. They will also enter at the semi-final stage directly, and face the winner of the encounter between African champions Al Ahly, and CONCACAF winners Monterrey, from the second round.

FIFA have also confirmed the dates of the competition, and the tournament will take place between 3 February and 12 February 2022. These coincide with Chelsea’s scheduled Premier League matches against Brighton and Arsenal, so we should expect both to be postponed.

This will be Chelsea’s second appearance in the competition, having made our CWC debut in 2012 after winning our first Champions League title. This time, we shall be looking to go one step further than we did on the previous occasion, when we lost 1-0 to Corinthians in the final.

The full draw is as follows:

First round
Al Jazira vs Auckland City

Second round
Al Ahly vs Monterrey
Al Jazira or Auckland City vs Al Hilal

Semi-final
Al Ahly or Monterrey vs Palmeiras
Al Hilal or Al Jazira or Auckland City vs Chelsea