The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons) 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. The tournament was hosted by the United Arab Emirates from 12 to 22 December 2018.
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. 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. The FIFA Executive Committee was to select the hosts at their meeting in Morocco in December 2014, but the final decision was delayed until the FIFA Executive Committee meetings on 19–20 March 2015.
The following countries expressed an interest in bidding to host the tournament:
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.
Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the tournament.
TeamConfederationQualificationQualified dateParticipation (bold indicates winners)Entering in the semi-finals River PlateCONMEBOLWinners of the 2018 Copa Libertadores9 December 20182nd Real MadridUEFAWinners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League26 May 20185th Entering in the second round Kashima AntlersAFCWinners of the 2018 AFC Champions League10 November 20182nd Espérance de TunisCAFWinners of the 2018 CAF Champions League9 November 20182nd GuadalajaraCONCACAFWinners of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League25 April 2018DebutEntering in the first round Team WellingtonOFCWinners of the 2018 OFC Champions League20 May 2018Debut Al AinAFC (host)Winners of the 2017–18 UAE Pro League14 May 2018Debut
Notes
Venues The two venues were the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
Al AinAbu Dhabi Hazza bin Zayed StadiumZayed Sports City Stadium Capacity: 22,717Capacity: 43,000
Match officials A total of six referees, twelve assistant referees, and six video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. FIFA announced on 22 November 2018 that the trio of referees and assistant referees from CAF were changed.
ConfederationRefereeAssistant refereesVideo assistant refereeAFC Ryuji Sato Toru Sagara Hiroshi Yamauchi Mohammed Abdulla Hassan MohamedCAF Bamlak Tessema Weyesa Zakhele Thusi Siwela Waleed AhmedCONCACAF Jair Marrufo Frank Anderson Corey Rockwell Mark GeigerCONMEBOL Wilton Sampaio Rodrigo Figueiredo Bruno Boschilia Mauro ViglianoOFC Matthew Conger Tevita Makasini Mark RuleUEFA Gianluca Rocchi Elenito Di Liberatore Mauro Tonolini Paweł Gil Massimiliano Irrati Danny Makkelie Notes
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.
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). At the time of the draw, the identity of the teams from AFC, CAF and CONMEBOL were not known.
If a match was tied after normal playing time: 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.
All times are local, GST (UTC+4).
First round
Second round
Match for fifth place
Semi-finals
Match for third place
Final
Goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Gareth Bale Real Madrid3 Rafael Santos Borré River Plate3 Marcus Berg Al Ain2 Gonzalo Martínez River Plate Tsukasa Shiotani Al Ain6 Hiroki Abe Kashima Antlers1 Mohamed Ahmed Al Ain Bandar Al-Ahbabi Al Ain Mario Barcia Team Wellington Youcef Belaïli Espérance de Tunis Caio Al Ain Aaron Clapham Team Wellington Shoma Doi Kashima Antlers Tongo Doumbia Al Ain Hussein El Shahat Al Ain Mario Ilich Team Wellington Marcos Llorente Real Madrid Luka Modrić Real Madrid Ryota Nagaki Kashima Antlers Sergio Ramos Real Madrid Gael Sandoval Guadalajara Serginho Kashima Antlers Ángel Zaldívar Guadalajara Bruno Zuculini River Plate
1 own goal Léo Silva (Kashima Antlers, against Guadalajara) Yahya Nader (Al Ain, against Real Madrid)
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
Adidas Golden BallAlibaba Cloud AwardAdidas Silver BallAdidas Bronze Ball Gareth Bale(Real Madrid) Caio(Al Ain) Rafael Santos Borré(River Plate)FIFA Fair Play Award Real Madrid
FIFA also named a man of the match for the best player in each game at the tournament.
+ Alibaba Cloud Match Award Match Man of the match Club Opponent1 Khalid Eisa Al Ain Team Wellington2 Hussein El Shahat Al Ain Espérance de Tunis3 Shoma Doi Kashima Antlers Guadalajara4 Rami Jridi Espérance de Tunis Guadalajara5 Khalid Eisa (2) Al Ain River Plate6 Gareth Bale Real Madrid Kashima Antlers7 Rafael Santos Borré River Plate Kashima Antlers8 Marcos Llorente Real Madrid Al Ain
References
External links FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018, FIFA.com