By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) -Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn on Thursday with Juventus, Wydad AC and Al Ain in Group G for next year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Lionel Messi and Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami are in Group A and will face Al Ahly in the opening match of the expanded 32-team tournament before games against Porto and Palmeiras.
The tournament, featuring top teams from around the world, will be held in 12 stadiums around the country from June 15-July 13 and serve as a dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S. Mexico and Canada.
Manchester City won the most recent Club World Cup in 2023 under the old format and sit fourth in the Premier League after being hit hard by injuries to key players such as Spanish midfielder and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.
City, who this year won an unprecedented fourth straight English top-flight title, will face Wydad AC in their opening match and Al Ain before closing out the group stage against Juventus.
Miami were the penultimate team added to the tournament after winning the “Supporters’ Shield” for finishing top of the MLS standings in the regular season before losing in the first round of the MLS playoffs last month.
European champions Real Madrid will face Al-Hilal, Pachuca and Red Bull Salzburg in Group H while Bayern Munich were placed in Group C along with Auckland City, Boca Juniors and Benfica.
Three-times European champions Inter Milan landed in Group E along with River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds and Monterrey while Paris St Germain, who this year won a third consecutive French top-flight title, are in Group B with Atletico Madrid, Botafogo and Seattle Sounders.
Brazilian side Botafogo only secured the final spot in the tournament last week by winning their first Copa Libertadores title.
Chelsea will begin Group D play against Leon before facing Flamengo and Esperance, while Group F is made up of Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns.
The draw, conducted by Italian World Cup winner and former Juventus great Alessandro Del Piero, included a recorded message from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in which he complimented FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“The event is going to be incredible. I will try and be there. If I can I would, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
“But I just want to say you’re led by a man named Gianni. I just know him as Gianni and he’s a winner and he’s the president, and I’m the president.
“We’ve known each other a long time, and I’m so honored to have this kind of a relationship because soccer is going through the roof. As everybody knows, it’s been doing fantastically well … and it really is taking over the United States in terms of the sport.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
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