The next big competition in football is all set to begin on June 15 (Sunday) as the Club World Cup 2025 is all set to begin with its newly constitured format. The competition will now feature 32 teams from all across the world, insrtead of the traditional five teams that happened till 2024. The first match between Inter Miami and Al-Ahly is all set to feature Lionel Messi. However, the other big global football star Cristiano Ronaldo will not play the mega tournament.

Why Cristiano Ronaldo Is Not Playing FIFA Club World Cup 2025

Cristiano Ronaldo now plays for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. They did not have a great season in 2024/25. They finished third in the SPL 2024/25 table, as they could not qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite.

A total of four teams from Asia were eligible for qualification in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. Three of these spots were reserved for the AFC Champions League Winners in 2021, 2022 and 2023-24. The final qualification spot was reserved for the best-ranked eligible team in the AFC four-year ranking.

Here are the four teams that qualified from Asia for the Club World Cup 2025:

Since Al-Nassr were not eligible for any of the four spots from Asia, they could not qualify for the Club World Cup 2025. Hence, Ronaldo is not playing in the tournament.

There were reports that Cristiano Ronaldo could join a new club who were part of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. He posted a cryptic message hinting at leaving Al-Nassr after the SPL 2024/25 season came to a close. FIFA president Gianni Infantino also hinted that Ronaldo could be playing the tournament. However, the Portuguese legend confirmed that he did not accept any offers that came his way.

"I will not be at the Club World Cup," said Ronaldo.

"Some teams reached out to me. Some made sense and others did not, but you can't try and do everything. You can't catch every ball," he added.