2018 FIFA Club World Cup

In the world of 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, there are endless aspects that deserve to be explored and analyzed. From its origins to its influence on modern society, 2018 FIFA Club World Cup has left an indelible mark on human history. Its impact extends to different fields, from culture and art to politics and economics. In this article, we will delve into the fascinating world of 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, exploring its many facets and its relevance today. From its beginnings to its evolution over the years, 2018 FIFA Club World Cup continues to be a topic of interest and debate, and deserves our attention and reflection.

2018 FIFA Club World Cup
FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018
presented by Alibaba Cloud
كأس العالم للأندية لكرة القدم
الإمارات العربية المتحدة 2018
Tournament details
Host countryUnited Arab Emirates
Dates12–22 December
Teams7 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid (4th title)
Runners-upUnited Arab Emirates Al Ain
Third placeArgentina River Plate
Fourth placeJapan Kashima Antlers
Tournament statistics
Matches played8
Goals scored33 (4.13 per match)
Attendance152,675 (19,084 per match)
Top scorer(s)Wales Gareth Bale
Colombia Rafael Santos Borré
(3 goals each)
Best player(s)Wales Gareth Bale
Fair play awardSpain Real Madrid
← 2017
2019 →

The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 15th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations, as well as the host nation's league champions.[2] The tournament was hosted by the United Arab Emirates from 12 to 22 December 2018.[3][4]

Real Madrid were the defending champions, having won the previous two editions, and qualified for the 2018 edition as well. They successfully defended their title (their third consecutive) after defeating Al Ain 4–1 in the final. With the win, they broke the tie with their club rivals Barcelona to become the outright record winners of the competition.

Host bids

The application process for the 2017–2018 as well as the 2015–2016 editions, i.e. two hosts, each hosting two years, began in February 2014.[5] Member associations interested in hosting must submit a declaration of interest by 30 March 2014, and provide the complete set of bidding documents by 25 August 2014.[6] The FIFA Executive Committee was to select the hosts at their meeting in Morocco in December 2014,[7] but the final decision was delayed until the FIFA Executive Committee meetings on 19–20 March 2015.[8]

The following countries expressed an interest in bidding to host the tournament:[9]

The FIFA Executive Committee officially confirmed the United Arab Emirates as hosts of the 2017 and 2018 tournaments on 20 March 2015 during their meeting in Zürich, Switzerland.[3]

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.
Team Confederation Qualification Qualified date Participation (bold indicates winners)
Entering in the semi-finals
Argentina River Plate CONMEBOL Winners of the 2018 Copa Libertadores[10] 9 December 2018[note 1] 2nd (Previous: 2015)
Spain Real MadridTH UEFA Winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League[11] 26 May 2018 5th (Previous: 2000, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Entering in the second round
Japan Kashima Antlers AFC Winners of the 2018 AFC Champions League[12] 10 November 2018 2nd (Previous: 2016)
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis CAF Winners of the 2018 CAF Champions League[13] 9 November 2018 2nd (Previous: 2011)
Mexico Guadalajara CONCACAF Winners of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League[14] 25 April 2018 1st
Entering in the first round
New Zealand Team Wellington OFC Winners of the 2018 OFC Champions League[15] 20 May 2018 1st
United Arab Emirates Al Ain AFC (host) Winners of the 2017–18 UAE Pro League[16] 14 May 2018[note 2] 1st
Notes
  1. ^ The second leg of the Copa Libertadores Finals, originally scheduled on 24 November 2018, was postponed to 9 December 2018 due to an attack on the Boca Juniors team bus when several players were injured.
  2. ^ Al Ain won the 2017–18 UAE Pro League on 21 April 2018. Their participation in the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup was officially confirmed on 14 May 2018 after Al-Jazira became the last team from the United Arab Emirates other than Al Ain to be eliminated from the 2018 AFC Champions League. Al Ain themselves were eliminated from the 2018 AFC Champions League on 15 May 2018, thereby confirming them entering the first round.

Venues

The two venues were the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

Al Ain Abu Dhabi
class=notpageimage|
Location of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.
Hazza bin Zayed Stadium Zayed Sports City Stadium
24°14′44.14″N 55°42′59.7″E / 24.2455944°N 55.716583°E / 24.2455944; 55.716583 (Hazza bin Zayed Stadium) 24°24′57.92″N 54°27′12.93″E / 24.4160889°N 54.4535917°E / 24.4160889; 54.4535917 (Zayed Sports City Stadium)
Capacity: 22,717 Capacity: 43,000

Match officials

A total of six referees, twelve assistant referees, and six video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.[17][18] FIFA announced on 22 November 2018 that the trio of referees and assistant referees from CAF were changed.[19][20]

Confederation Referee Assistant referees Video assistant referee
AFC Japan Ryuji Sato Japan Toru Sagara
Japan Hiroshi Yamauchi 		United Arab Emirates Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
CAF[a] Ethiopia Bamlak Tessema Weyesa South Africa Zakhele Thusi Siwela
Sudan Waleed Ahmed
CONCACAF United States Jair Marrufo United States Frank Anderson
United States Corey Rockwell 		United States Mark Geiger
CONMEBOL Brazil Wilton Sampaio Brazil Rodrigo Figueiredo
Brazil Bruno Boschilia 		Argentina Mauro Vigliano
OFC New Zealand Matthew Conger Tonga Tevita Makasini
New Zealand Mark Rule
UEFA Italy Gianluca Rocchi Italy Elenito Di Liberatore
Italy Mauro Tonolini 		Poland Paweł Gil
Italy Massimiliano Irrati
Netherlands Danny Makkelie

Notes

  1. ^ The officiating team from CAF replaced the original trio of Mehdi Abid Charef, Abdelhak Etchiali (both from Algeria) and Anouar Hmila (from Tunisia).

Squads

Main article: 2018 FIFA Club World Cup squads

Each team had to name a 23-man squad (three of whom must be goalkeepers). Injury replacements were allowed until 24 hours before the team's first match.[2]

Matches

The draw of the tournament was held on 4 September 2018, 10:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA Headquarters in Zürich, to decide the matchups of the second round (between the first round winner and teams from AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF), and the opponents of the two second round winners in the semi-finals (teams from CONMEBOL and UEFA).[21] At the time of the draw, the identity of the teams from AFC, CAF and CONMEBOL were not known.[22][23]

If a match was tied after normal playing time:[2]

  • For elimination matches, extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be held to determine the winner.
  • For the matches for fifth place and third place, no extra time would be played, and a penalty shoot-out would be held to determine the winner.
First roundSecond roundSemi-finalsFinal
15 December – Al Ain
Japan Kashima Antlers319 December – Abu Dhabi
Mexico Guadalajara2Japan Kashima Antlers1
Spain Real Madrid322 December – Abu Dhabi
Spain Real Madrid4
18 December – Al AinUnited Arab Emirates Al Ain1
15 December – Al AinArgentina River Plate2 (4)
12 December – Al AinTunisia Espérance de Tunis0United Arab Emirates Al Ain (p)2 (5)
United Arab Emirates Al Ain (p)3 (4)United Arab Emirates Al Ain3
New Zealand Team Wellington3 (3)Match for fifth placeMatch for third place
18 December – Al Ain22 December – Abu Dhabi
Mexico Guadalajara1 (5)Japan Kashima Antlers0
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis (p)1 (6)Argentina River Plate4

All times are local, GST (UTC+4).[24]

First round

Al Ain United Arab Emirates3–3 (a.e.t.)New Zealand Team Wellington
 Report
Penalties
 4–3
Attendance: 15,279[25]
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Second round

Kashima Antlers Japan3–2Mexico Guadalajara
 Report
Attendance: 3,997[26]
Espérance de Tunis Tunisia0–3United Arab Emirates Al Ain
Report
Attendance: 21,333[27]

Match for fifth place

Semi-finals

River Plate Argentina2–2 (a.e.t.)United Arab Emirates Al Ain
 Report
Penalties
 4–5
Attendance: 21,383[29]
Kashima Antlers Japan1–3Spain Real Madrid
 Report
Attendance: 30,554[30]

Match for third place

Kashima Antlers Japan0–4Argentina River Plate
Report
Attendance: 13,550[31]

Final

Main article: 2018 FIFA Club World Cup Final
Real Madrid Spain4–1United Arab Emirates Al Ain
 Report
Attendance: 40,696[32]

Goalscorers

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Wales Gareth Bale Spain Real Madrid 3
Colombia Rafael Santos Borré Argentina River Plate
3 Sweden Marcus Berg United Arab Emirates Al Ain 2
Argentina Gonzalo Martínez Argentina River Plate
Japan Tsukasa Shiotani United Arab Emirates Al Ain
6 Japan Hiroki Abe Japan Kashima Antlers 1
United Arab Emirates Mohamed Ahmed United Arab Emirates Al Ain
United Arab Emirates Bandar Al-Ahbabi United Arab Emirates Al Ain
Argentina Mario Barcia New Zealand Team Wellington
Algeria Youcef Belaïli Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
Brazil Caio United Arab Emirates Al Ain
New Zealand Aaron Clapham New Zealand Team Wellington
Japan Shoma Doi Japan Kashima Antlers
Mali Tongo Doumbia United Arab Emirates Al Ain
Egypt Hussein El Shahat United Arab Emirates Al Ain
New Zealand Mario Ilich New Zealand Team Wellington
Spain Marcos Llorente Spain Real Madrid
Croatia Luka Modrić Spain Real Madrid
Japan Ryota Nagaki Japan Kashima Antlers
Spain Sergio Ramos Spain Real Madrid
Mexico Gael Sandoval Mexico Guadalajara
Brazil Serginho Japan Kashima Antlers
Mexico Ángel Zaldívar Mexico Guadalajara
Argentina Bruno Zuculini Argentina River Plate

1 own goal

Awards

See also: FIFA Club World Cup awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[33]

Adidas Golden Ball
Alibaba Cloud Award 		Adidas Silver Ball Adidas Bronze Ball
Wales Gareth Bale
(Real Madrid) 		Brazil Caio
(Al Ain) 		Colombia Rafael Santos Borré
(River Plate)
FIFA Fair Play Award
Spain Real Madrid

FIFA also named a man of the match for the best player in each game at the tournament.[34][31][32]

Alibaba Cloud Match Award
Match Man of the match Club Opponent
1 United Arab Emirates Khalid Eisa United Arab Emirates Al Ain New Zealand Team Wellington
2 Egypt Hussein El Shahat United Arab Emirates Al Ain Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
3 Japan Shoma Doi Japan Kashima Antlers Mexico Guadalajara
4 Tunisia Rami Jridi Tunisia Espérance de Tunis Mexico Guadalajara
5 United Arab Emirates Khalid Eisa (2) United Arab Emirates Al Ain Argentina River Plate
6 Wales Gareth Bale Spain Real Madrid Japan Kashima Antlers
7 Colombia Rafael Santos Borré Argentina River Plate Japan Kashima Antlers
8 Spain Marcos Llorente Spain Real Madrid United Arab Emirates Al Ain

References

  1. ^ "Alibaba E-Auto signs as Presenting Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Regulations FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  3. ^ a b "2022 FIFA World Cup to be played in November/December". FIFA.com. 21 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015.
  4. ^ "OC for FIFA Competitions approves procedures for the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Blatter: A legacy for the future". FIFA.com. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.
  6. ^ "Bidding process opened for eight FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014.
  7. ^ "India may get to host FIFA Club World Cup". India.com. 15 October 2014.
  8. ^ "FIFA Executive committee meeting agenda now available". FIFA. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  9. ^ "High interest in hosting FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
  10. ^ "River Plate triumph in Superclásico Libertadores final". FIFA.com. 9 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Real Madrid make it three in a row". FIFA.com. 26 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Kashima win maiden AFC Champions League title". FIFA.com. 10 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Esperance win third African club title". FIFA.com. 9 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Chivas claim continental glory to end five-decade drought". FIFA.com. 26 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Team Wellington crowned continental kings, earn Club World Cup berth". FIFA.com. 20 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Al Ain book UAE 2018 berth". FIFA.com. 22 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Match officials for UAE 2018 appointed". FIFA.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Referees, Assistant Referees & VAR for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com. 16 October 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  19. ^ "Update to referees list for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018". FIFA.com. 22 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Referees, Assistant Referees & VAR for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  21. ^ "Draw shows path to Club World Cup title". FIFA.com. 4 September 2018.
  22. ^ "The FIFA Club World Cup draw explained". FIFA.com. 31 August 2018. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018.
  23. ^ "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 - Official Draw". YouTube. 4 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Match Schedule FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  25. ^ "Match report – First round – Al Ain FC v Team Wellington FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  26. ^ "Match report – Second round – Kashima Antlers v CD Guadalajara" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  27. ^ "Match report – Second round – ES Tunis v Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  28. ^ "Match report – Match for fifth place – ES Tunis v CD Guadalajara" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  29. ^ "Match report – Semi-finals – CA River Plate v Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  30. ^ "Match report – Semi-finals – Kashima Antlers v Real Madrid CF" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  31. ^ a b "Match report – Match for third place – Kashima Antlers v CA River Plate" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  32. ^ a b "Match report – Final – Real Madrid CF v Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Bale, Caio and Borre sweep awards". FIFA.com. 22 December 2018.
  34. ^ "Alibaba Cloud Match Award winners". FIFA. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2021.[dead link‍]