The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was always going to break new ground. It’s the first edition with 32 teams, the first to follow a full World Cup-style format, and the first held in the United States. But amid all the sweeping changes, one quiet omission stood out: there would be no match for third place.
No bronze-medal clash, no final bow for a team that almost made it. After the semifinals, the two losing sides go home, joint third, unofficially, and with little fanfare.
It’s not a glitch. It’s by design.
FIFA confirmed this detail back in December 2023, when it laid out the blueprint for the expanded tournament. “There will be no play-off for third place,” the release stated plainly. While the rest of the structure mimics the World Cup—group stage, round of 16, knockouts—the bronze match was left on the cutting-room floor.
It marks a clear break from tradition. Every Club World Cup since 2005 featured a third-place match. Al Ahly, Flamengo, and Monterrey are just a few of the clubs that have treated it as a source of pride, a podium moment on the global stage.
So why the change?
A casualty of calendar overload
The answer is less dramatic than it is practical: time, fatigue, and diminishing returns.
By the time clubs reach the final four of this year’s Club World Cup, many have already played six high-intensity matches in summer heat. Add in travel, jet lag, and the looming start of the next club season, and there’s little appetite for one more game with nothing at stake but pride.
FIFA framed the decision around allowing eliminated teams to return to their domestic preparations. Coaches haven’t objected. Pep Guardiola, after City’s exit in the Round of 16, said plainly: “It’s time to rest.” Bayern’s Vincent Kompany echoed that sentiment, pointing to the need for a proper vacation window.
Even fans didn’t seem to mind. Online, there was barely a ripple. Reddit threads joked about Infantino leaving money on the table, but few were clamoring for a 3rd-vs-4th consolation match.
That silence says something. The bronze match has always been an oddity in club football. It never existed in the Champions League. It faded from the Euros over 40 years ago. In this context, FIFA’s decision feels like a long-overdue alignment.
This isn’t to say bronze never mattered. At the international level, it still does. Morocco’s third-place finish in Qatar was historic. But for club sides, the stakes just don’t carry the same emotional weight. If you’re not playing for the trophy, you’d rather be packing your bags.
In that light, the absence of a third-place match isn’t an oversight. It’s a quiet admission that not every game needs to be played. Not when player fatigue is real, and the football calendar is bursting at the seams.
For once, FIFA trimmed the fat. And no one seems to miss it.
