New Horizons for Nigerian League Football: Building Towards the Next FIFA Club World Cup

By Osondu C. Nwokoro, Kenneth C. Eze.

1. Background

Despite the increased revenue, competition prestige, and expansion of the format of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, no Nigerian club qualified to occupy the slots allocated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This Article examines the competition vis-à-vis its history, commercial and other significance to participating clubs. It also draws lessons from the failure of Nigerian clubs to qualify, and aims to outline a path forward for Nigerian clubs in the next edition.

2. Evolution of the FIFA Club World Cup

2.1. The FIFA Club World Cup (the Competition) is an international men’s association football competition organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). According to FIFA, the first recorded attempt at organizing a global club football tournament was in 1909 by Sir Thomas Lipton, long before the first FIFA World Cup.^[1] Known as the Lipton World Football Trophy, it featured teams from England, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.^[2]

2.2. Subsequent attempts were made by the Brazilian Football Association which organized the Copa Rio;³ the Pequeña Copa del Mundo (Little World Cup) by Venezuelan Companies between 1952 to 1975;^[4] the 1960 International Soccer League authorized by FIFA.^[5] Others include the Tournoi de Paris^[6] which inaugural edition was touted to be the precursor to the Intercontinental Cup organized from 1960 to 2004.^[7] Clubs that participated in the Intercontinental Cup received over $200,000.^[8] The Intercontinental Cup^[9], was known as Toyota Cup which sponsored and provided financial incentives as well as solution to the violence and other occurrences that made it unattractive.^[10]

2.3. The FIFA Club World Cup was scheduled to hold in 1999 but was later cancelled. The first edition held in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship. The competition had eight new participants from the continental champions of 1999 and gave away US$28 million in prize money. The next edition of the competition, which was planned to feature 12 teams, did not hold due to a number of factors,^[11] and participants of the edition received US$750,000 each in compensation.^[12] Ultimately, FIFA agreed with the UEFA, CONMEBOL and Toyota to merge the Intercontinental Cup and Club World Championship into one event^[13] with a relaunched Club World Championship held in Japan in December 2005 with just the six reigning continental champions.

2.4. In late 2017, the format of the competition was revised with the projection that by 2021, 24 teams will participate drawn from UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and Copa Libertadores, along with qualifiers from other confederations.^[14] However, implementation of the revised format could not take place due to COVID-19 pandemic leading to the expansion to 32 teams^[15] to be held in 2025 in the United States of America.^[16] Instructively the competition was played one year before a world cup and now to be held quadrennially.^[17] The FIFA Club World Cup 2023 had a prize money pot of USD 16 million (MYR 71.4 million approx.). Out of this, the champions, Manchester City, pocketed USD 5 million.^[18]

2.5. Additionally, the revamped tournament features not only an expansion to 32 teams and a 4-year cycle, but also a substantial increase in the prize money at stake. FIFA’s 2024 financial report forecasts a record-breaking revenue of $2 billion (€1.75 billion) for the 2025 Club World Cup, with a significant $1 billion allocation designated for participating clubs.^[19] $475 million will be distributed as performance bonuses: for wins and draws in the group stage, for winning a group, and for advancing through the knockout rounds. The winner of the tournament receives $40 million in prize money, while the other finalist takes home $30 million. If a European club wins the Club World Cup, they could take home more than $125 million. ^[20] FIFA aimed to pay $250m to clubs worldwide who did not qualify for the tournament. ^[21]

3. Participation in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025
3.1. Unlike in earlier editions where qualification was based on being the reigning champions of the different confederations, the revamped competition featuring 32 teams has introduced new guidelines for qualification.
3.2. The Regulations on the FIFA World Club Cup 2025 (the Regulations)^[22] states the number of participating teams^[23] as well as the criteria for determining same. The criteria for determining participating teams are based on metrics such as performance in respective confederations’ premier club competition over a four-year period (2021-2024) and the new FIFA club ranking announced in December 2023.^[24]
3.3. Specifically, on 14 March 2023, the FIFA Council decided to allocate slots to the confederations for the Competition.^[25] Africa was awarded 4 slots to be filled by four clubs, namely the CAF Champions League winners between 2021 and 2024.^[26] However, Al-Ahly won the CAF Champions League in 2020/2021, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024, resulting in 2 vacant slots.

4. Qualification Through Club Ranking
4.1. To address situations where a club wins multiple editions of a confederation’s premier club competition during the 2021-2024 period, the Regulations provide that the FIFA club ranking calculated according to sporting criteria will be used to grant access.^[27] This provision was applied to resolve the situation in the CAF, where Al-Ahly’s three wins in the CAF Champions League during the qualification period resulted in two vacant slots. The FIFA club ranking was used to determine which clubs would fill these slots.
4.2. The rankings are determined by parameters such as wins, draws, and progress in competitions over a 4-year period. The standard ranking system awards 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 3 points for advancing to each stage of the competition.^[28] Based on this system, Espérance of Tunisia and Mamelodi Sundowns FC of South Africa earned spots in the competition as the top-ranked teams in the CAF club rankings.

5. NPFL Clubs Participation and CAF Rankings
Nigeria boasts a rich football heritage, with its elite league once considered among Africa’s best. Currently, the country ranks 43rd globally and 6th in Africa according to the latest FIFA Men’s rankings.^[29] Despite the Confederation of African Football (CAF) comprising 54 member nations with organized top-tier leagues, clubs from Nigeria’s premier league, the NPFL, were noticeably absent from the top 30 CAF-ranked teams as at June 1, 2025.^[30] In the last decade, no Nigerian club has progressed to the final of the CAF Champions League. Consequently, it’s both unsurprising and disheartening that no Nigerian club was qualified to participate in the esteemed FIFA Club World Cup.

6. Significance of Participation
6.1. The historical evolution, as in 2. above, of what has now become a truly world club cup competition organized by FIFA, underscores significant growth across multiple facets. From its humble beginnings from the Copa Rio to Intercontinental Cup, challenges such as European teams’ withdrawal due to limited financial incentives and the dominance of South American teams, has been successfully navigated such that the competition has now garnered substantial prestige, publicity, and importance over time. Today, top clubs actively prepare to participate in the tournament as a prominent fixture in their annual schedule.
6.2. The FIFA Club World Cup has evolved into a lucrative platform that can significantly bolster the revenue of participating clubs. The 2000 edition had a total prize pool of US$28 million with the winner earning $6M; $16M and winner with $5M in 2005; and US$16.5 million in 2007.^[31] The winners for 2022^[32] and 2023 both carted home USD 5M.^[33]
6.3. The eyewatering €2.5 billion prize pot that FIFA provided in 2025 made the tournament one of the most lucrative competitions not just in football but in all of sport. The money prizes for participating teams have skyrocketed so much so that the main prize exceeds that of the winner of the UEFA Champions League^[34] and the Copa Libertadores.^[35] While the substantial prize money is certainly enticing for even the wealthiest European clubs, it has the potential to be utterly transformative for virtually all other clubs, offering a vital financial boost that can elevate their entire operation. In South America, only six squads are valued more than the reported winning prize of $114.6m. Only four Asian teams, specifically the top Saudi Pro League clubs, surpass this valuation. In contrast, all non-European teams, including three CONCACAF participants, have squad values below this threshold – remarkably, even lower than the €50m participation prize. This trend holds true for African clubs as well. Meanwhile, Auckland City, representing Oceania, will receive a transformative payout, considering their entire squad is valued at approximately €5m.^[36]
6.4. In addition to increased exposure and invaluable experience which will foster continued growth and enhance their international competitiveness, the African representatives in the competition comprising Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Ahly, Esperance and Wydad Casablanca secured significant financial returns earning base participation fees,^[37] win and draw rewards.^[38] The highest earner was Mamelodi Sundowns with $12.55M while Esperance and Al Ahly earned $11.55M followed by Wydad’s $9.55M.^[39] Al Ahly’s bronze in 2022^[40] and 2023^[41] editions of the competition was worth $2.5M.^[42] These pales into insignificance when compared to the $30M worth of a semi-final finish at the 2025 edition. It is expected that the 2029 edition will witness an even greater yield to participating clubs.
6.5. Furthermore, the competition presents a unique opportunity for African clubs to gauge their strengths, player talent, and tactical approaches against peers from diverse global backgrounds. The former Chief Executive Officer of Enyimba FC lamented the club’s misfortune, which prevented them from participating in the Club World Cup, despite winning the African championship in 2003 and 2004, due to repeated postponements.^[43] Participating in the Club World Cup would have offered Enyimba FC a valuable learning experience, leading to overall improvement. Moreover, the tournament serves as a global platform for clubs to showcase their top players and emerging talents, potentially attracting lucrative transfer deals and increasing foreign exchange earnings.
6.6. Furthermore, the competition provides African players with a unique opportunity to showcase their skills on the world stage, facilitating exposure and potential quality improvement. A strong performance in the tournament can significantly enhance a player’s profile, holding considerable value in their careers.^[44]
6.7. For fans, these matchups serve as a poignant reminder of football’s unparalleled global reach – a distinguishing feature that sets the sport apart, with official recognition and participation in every country worldwide. Additionally, winning the tournament serves as a badge of honour and a source of pride for fans, citizens, and even an entire continent, fostering national and regional prestige.

7. Prospects for Nigerian Clubs
7.1. Nigerian clubs have a renewed opportunity to qualify for the next FIFA Club World Cup. Since the 2025 edition’s qualification criteria exclude CAF Champions League winners and top-ranked clubs up to 2024, Nigerian clubs can now focus on securing a spot in the subsequent tournament. To achieve this, they can pursue two key pathways: winning the CAF Champions League, the most direct route to qualification, or improving their CAF Club rankings to increase their chances of qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup.
7.2. By focusing on these pathways, Nigerian clubs can capitalize on the fresh opportunity presented by the FIFA Club World Cup’s new qualification cycle. However, to capitalize on the opportunity presented by the next edition, Nigerian clubs must tackle the numerous challenges hindering their performance on the continent. Stakeholders have pinpointed issues such as inadequate preparation and the loss of top players to other leagues^[45] as well as players welfare.^[46] Mr. Brown Ideye recently shed light on the unpaid bonuses and meager feeding allowance he received during his time at Enyimba Football Club of Aba, one of Nigeria’s most prominent clubs.^[47] This revelation raises concerns about the standards of care in other Nigerian football clubs, given that Enyimba is considered a benchmark for excellence. These emphasizes the need to implement urgent reforms and hold clubs accountable for players’ welfare and contractual obligations. The alignment of the NPFL^[48] with the FIFA calendar is a positive development that will facilitate better preparation for Nigerian teams participating in the CAF Champions League.
7.3. Moreover, there is a widely acknowledged necessity for strategic long-term planning and sustained improvement within the NPFL. Additionally, comparisons with North African clubs underscore the significance of adopting robust organizational structures and a corporate governance mindset in club management, to drive competitiveness, efficiency, and success.^[49]

8. Conclusion
The absence of Nigerian clubs from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing the country’s football landscape. However, the four-year cycle of the competition offers a fresh opportunity for Nigerian clubs to regroup, refocus, and strive for continental success, which will position them to reap of the competitions growing commercial, publicity and other significance. Recent reforms, such as aligning the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) with the FIFA calendar, provide a glimmer of hope for improvement. To capitalize on this chance, stakeholder (especially clubs, the NPFL and NFF) must adopt a proactive approach, prioritizing long-term planning, enhancing league competitiveness, and embracing a more professional and corporate management structure. By doing so, they can strengthen their chances of qualifying for future FIFA Club World Cups and revitalizing Nigerian football’s former glory.

REFERENCES 

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194727/http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/news/newsid=71488/index.html
2. https://www.rsssf.org/tablesl/lipton-trophy.html
3. The Copa Rio was an international club football tournament with teams from Europe and South America held on two occasions, in 1951 and 1952, in Brazil. The idea was to gather together the reigning champions of the world’s top football national leagues, in order to determine the world club champion – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Rio_(international_tournament)
4. This was held with usually three to eight participants, half from Europe and half from South America.https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/peq-copamundo.html.
5. Held between 1961-1965 in United States, teams from Europe and South America were invited during their off-seasons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_International_Soccer_League
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournoi_de_Paris Clubs from England, Italy, Portugal, etc have participated in the cup over the years. It is an association football intercontinental competition between European and South American clubs.
7. https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/toyota.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Club_World_Cup#cite_note-6 The Intercontinental Cup is different from the FIFA Intercontinental Cup which first held in 2025. However, even though the former was stopped in 2004 and succeeded by the FIFA Club World Cup, it can be considered the precursor of the latter in some ways – https://www.topendsports.com/events/soccer/intercontinental-cup/index.htm
9. The Cup is officially an international club football competition endorsed by UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America) contested between representative clubs from these confederations, usually the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the South American Copa Libertadores (and later their runners-up). It ran from 1960 to 2004.
10. High degree of violent conducts and antics were largely attributed to Uruguayan and Argentine teams and fans which made other teams from Europe (Ajax, Liverpool, etc) and south american teams like Santos to withdraw participation – https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/02/11/the-decline-fall-and-rebirth-of-the-intercontinental-cup/ 11 It was not held from 2001 to 2004 due to a combination of factors, chiefly the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner, International Sport and Leisure (ISL).
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Club_World_Cup#cite_note-6
12. Ibid
13. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37537349/fifa-considering-24-team-club-world-cup-played-summer
14. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37634880/fifa-launch-new-club-world-cup-32-teams-2025
15. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64001866
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Club_World_Cup
17. https://www.augustman.com/my/sports/fifa-intercontinental-cup-2024-prize-money-speculation/#google_vignette
18. https://www.dw.com/en/fifa-club-world-cup-what-you-need-to-know/a-72857296
19. Ibid.
20. $38.19M to the highest ranking European team and $3.58M to the lowest ranking Oceania representatives, Auckland – https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2025/3/26/fifa-announces-record-prize-purse-for-winners-of-upcoming-club-world-cup Different entry level fees were paid to European teams ($12.81M) and South America ($15.21M) and Africa, Asia and the CONCACAF region of North America got $9.55m.
21. https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/club-world-cup/usa-2025
22. 32 teams. See Article 11.1 of the Regulations on FIFA Club World Club 2025.
23. Article 11.1
24. Article 11.4 – Among others, 4 slots were allocated to the CAF.
25. See Article 11.4 (Table)
26. Article 11.5. Furthermore, ranking calculated according to sporting criteria will be used to grant access. A cap of two clubs per country will be applied to the access list, with an exception in cases where more than two clubs from the same country win the confederation’s premier club competition over the four-year period.
27. https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-rankings/fifa-club-world-cup – There also some other additional criteria.
28. FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (CAF) – https://inside.fifa.com/associations/CAF – as at April 3, 2025
29. https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-rankings/fifa-club-world-cup – as at 1 June 2025. The latest CAF rankings released in August 2025 however show that out of the 78 teams, Nigeria has two representatives, Rivers United and Enyimba FC ranking 24 and 35 respectively
30. https://www.cafonline.com/news/egypt-s-al-ahly-top-list-of-caf-clubs-rankings-for-2025-ahead-of-interclub-draws-on-saturday/
31. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Club_World_Cup#Prize_money
32. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/fifa-club-world-cup-prize-money-how-much-can-chelsea-win-2022/embqdo9zpg3vqmrf0joqvalw
33. https://www.augustman.com/in/sports/fifa-world-cup-2023-prize-money/#google_vignette
34. $155m – https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/06/206133/how-much-will-psg-earn-after-winning-the champions-league/
35. Botafogo FC won a prize money of $27M for winning its first Copa Libertadores title in 2024 – https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/football/2024/Dec/01/10-man-botafogo-wins-its-first-copa-libertadores-title-2
36. https://www.fotmob.com/en/topnews/17337-analysis-why-club-world-cup-intercontinental-cup-should-be-cherished
37. $9.55M https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Here-s-how-much-African-teams-earned-from-Club-World-Cup-1989782
38. $2M and $1M respectively at the group stage – ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. FIFA Club World Cup prize money breakdown: How much Chelsea won in 2022 | Sporting News
41. https://www.cafonline.com/caf-champions-league/news/al-ahly-win-six-goal-thriller-to-grab-club-world-cup-bronze/
42. https://www.si.com/fannation/soccer/futbol/news/fifa-club-world-cup-2023-prize-money-chart-saudi-arabia
43. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/enyimba-dream-world-club-cup-competition/
44. Percy Tau’s decision to sign with Al Ahly was influenced by the prospect of participating in the FIFA Club World Cup, among other factors. Tau’s move to Al Ahly proved successful, as he played a key role in the team’s continental success, winning two CAF Champions League titles and becoming the highest-scoring South African in the FIFA Club World Cup. His time at Al Ahly also earned him the CAF Interclub Player of the Year award in 2023.
45. “Waste of Resources” – Ezeji Slams Nigerian Clubs’ Poor Use of CAF Slots – https://www.brila.net/waste-of-resources-ezeji-slams-nigerian-clubs-poor-use-of-caf-slots/
46. https://www.thecable.ng/ideye-npfl-is-getting-worse-nigerian-clubs-not-ready-for-continental-football/
47. https://businessday.ng/sports/article/brown-ideye-slams-enyimba-over-unpaid-bonuses-poor-player-welfare/
48. https://sportseye.ng/sports-column/impressive-milestone-first-time-npfl-finishes-ahead-of-other-leagues/
49. https://soccernet.ng/2022/05/14-years-and-counting-when-will-a-nigerian-team-play-in-the-caf-champions-league-final-again.html