The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia will start on December 12, 2023, with six confederation winners and a host team battling it out for the silverware. The 20th edition of the competition will be played in its present format for the last time before it expands in 2025 with 32 teams starting from the group stages. Al Ittihad taking on Auckland City will be the opening with the final match scheduled at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on 20th December 2023. A total of seven teams will compete in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup.
Along with Saudi Pro League winners Al-Ittihad, qualified as hosts, UEFA Champions League winners Manchester City, AFC Champions League winners Urawa Red Diamonds, Copa Libertadores champions Fluminese, CAF Champions League victors Al Ahly FC, Auckland City from OFC and Mexican club Club Leon by clinching their continental title are set to take part in the tournament. All the teams have finalized their squad a week before the tournament kicks off. As always, this tournament will have star names who are either veterans or taste the stage for the first time.
The eye-catching name in the Brazilian team Fluminense squad is Real Madrid legend Marcelo who won this competition four times with the Los Blancos, the latest being in 2018. UEFA Champions League holders Manchester City will be making their debut having won the continental prize for the first time. Apart from elite goal-scorer Erling Haaland, they will have another star Kevin De Bruyne returning from injury for the first minutes of this season. Saudi outfit Al-Ittihad will have a fair share of ex-European stars in the squad like Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté, both of whom have lifted the Club World Cup previously. Al Ahly will also have prominent names like veteran keeper Mohamed El Shenawy while Urawa Red Diamonds will miss the service of ex-European league campaigner Hiroki Sakai.
Here we look at the squad details of all seven teams in FIFA Club World Cup 2023:
Fluminense
Goalkeepers: Fábio, Pedro Rangel, Vitor Eudes
Defenders: Samuel Xavier, Marlon, Marcelo, Guga, Felipe Melo, Nino, Diogo Barbosa, David Braz
Midfielders: Alexsander, André, Matheus Martinelli, Ganso, Danielzinho, Jhon Arias, Thiago Santos, Lima
Forwards: John Kennedy, Keno, Germán Cano, Yony González
Head Coach: Fernando Diniz
Al Ahly FC
Goalkeepers: Mohamed El Shenawy, Hamza Alaa, Mostafa Shobeir
Defenders: Khaled Abdelfattah, Ramy Rabia, Yasser Ibrahim, Akram Tawfik, Ali Maâloul, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Karim Fouad, Mohamed Hany, Karim El Debes
Midfielders: Marwan Attia, Hussein El Shahat, Aliou Dieng, Amr El Solia, Mohamed Afsha, Emam Ashour, Koka
Forwards: Kahraba, Percy Tau, Anthony Modeste, Taher Mohamed
Head Coach: Marcel Koller
Manchester City
Goalkeepers: Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Scott Carson
Defenders: Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Sergio Gomez
Midfielders: Rico Lewis, Rodri, Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne
Forwards: Oscar Bobb, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland
Head Coach: Pep Guardiola
Urawa Red Diamonds
Goalkeepers: Shusaku Nishikawa, Ayumi Niekawa, Shun Yoshida
Defenders: Takuya Iwanami, Marius Høibråten, Takahiro Akimoto, Takuya Ogiwara, Alexander Scholz, Ayumu Ohata
Midfielders: Yoshio Koizumi, Shoya Nakajima, Takahiro Sekine, Ken Iwao, Tomoaki Okubo, Kai Shibato, Kaito Yasui, Ekanit Panya
Forwards: Bryan Linssen, José Kanté, Alex Schalk, Toshiki Takahashi, Shinzo Koroki
Head Coach: Per-Mathias Høgmo
León
Goalkeepers: Alfonso Blanco, Oscar Garcia, Rodolfo Cota
Defenders: William Tesillo, Iván Moreno, Jaine Barreiro, Adonis Frías, Osvaldo Rodríguez, Paul Bellón, Óscar Villa
Midfielders: Fidel Ambríz, Iván Rodríguez, Elías Hernández, Ángel Mena, Omar Fernández, Borja Sánchez, José Ramírez, Lucas Romero
Forwards: Brian Rubio, Nicolás López, Federico Viñas, Alfonso Alvarado, Sebastián Santos
Head Coach: Nicolás Larcamón
Auckland City
Goalkeepers: Conor Tracey, Sebastián Ciganda, Joe Wallis
Defenders: Mario Ilich, Adam Mitchell, Christian Gray, Adam Bell, Regont Murati, Nathan Lobo, Jordan Vale, Alfie Rogers
Midfielders: Timothy Boulet, Cameron Howieson, Gerard Garriga, Aidan Carey, Zhou Tong, Michael den Heijer
Forwards: Angus Kilkolly, Dylan Manickum, Ryan de Vries, Joseph Lee, William Gillion, Emiliano Tade
Head Coach: Albert Riera
Al-Ittihad
Goalkeepers: Abdullah Al-Mayouf, Marcelo Grohe, Osama Al-Mermesh
Defenders: Omar Hawsawi, Zakaria Hawsawi, Muhannad Shanqeeti, Hassan Kadesh, Suwailem Al-Manhali, Ahmed Hegazy, Ahmed Bamasud, Madallah Al-Olayan
Midfielders: Sultan Al-Farhan, N'Golo Kanté, Fabinho, Igor Coronado, Faisal Al-Ghamdi, Marwan Al-Sahafi, Jota, Abdulrahman Al-Oboud, Saleh Al-Amri
Forwards: Karim Benzema, Romarinho, Abderrazak Hamdallah
Head Coach: Marcelo Gallardo
