2015_FIFA_Club_World_Cup
2015 FIFA Club World Cup
International football competition
The 2015 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 presented by Alibaba E-Auto for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 12th 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 Japan between 10 and 20 December 2015.[3]
| FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 presented by Alibaba E-Auto Alibaba E-Auto プレゼンツ FIFAクラブワールドカップ ジャパン2015 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Japan |
| Dates | 10–20 December |
| Teams | 7 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Barcelona (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  River Plate |
| Third place |  Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| Fourth place |  Guangzhou Evergrande |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 8 |
| Goals scored | 21 (2.63 per match) |
| Attendance | 272,312 (34,039 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 5 goals |
| Best player(s) | Luis Suárez (Barcelona) |
| Fair play award | Barcelona |
← 2014 2016 → | |
Defending champions Real Madrid did not qualify as they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. The eventual winners of that competition, Barcelona, went on to win a record third Club World Cup title, beating Guangzhou Evergrande 3–0 in the semi-finals before beating River Plate by the same margin in the final.
The application process for the 2015–2016 as well as the 2017–2018 editions, i.e. two hosts, each hosting two years, began in February 2014.[4] Member associations interested in hosting had to submit a declaration of interest by 30 March 2014, and provide the complete set of bidding documents by 25 August 2014.[5] The FIFA Executive Committee was to select the hosts at their meeting in Morocco in December 2014.[6] However, no such decision regarding the 2015–2016 host was made until 2015.
The following countries expressed an interest in bidding to host the tournament:[7]
Japan was officially confirmed as the host of the 2015 and 2016 tournaments on 23 April 2015.[3]
Under a proposed change to the competition, led by the Oceania Football Confederation, the new format would mean a removal of the knockout rounds for the quarter-finals and play-off round, replacing it with two round-robin groups of three teams, consisting of two teams from the host nation and the champions of AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, and OFC, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals to play the champions of CONMEBOL and UEFA. This would allow for all teams to play at least two matches, avoiding the current situation where the loser of the play-off round would play only one match.[9] However, this proposal was not implemented.[3]
| Team | Confederation | Qualification | Qualified date | Participation (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entering in the semi-finals | ||||
| River Plate |
CONMEBOL | Winners of the 2015 Copa Libertadores | 22 July 2015[note 1] | 1st |
| Barcelona |
UEFA | Winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League | 6 June 2015 | 4th (Previous: 2006, 2009, 2011) |
| Entering in the quarter-finals | ||||
| Guangzhou Evergrande |
AFC | Winners of the 2015 AFC Champions League | 21 November 2015 | 2nd (Previous: 2013) |
 TP Mazembe |
CAF | Winners of the 2015 CAF Champions League | 8 November 2015 | 3rd (Previous: 2009, 2010) |
 América |
CONCACAF | Winners of the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League | 29 April 2015 | 2nd (Previous: 2006) |
| Entering in the play-off for quarter-finals | ||||
 Auckland City |
OFC | Winners of the 2014–15 OFC Champions League | 26 April 2015 | 7th (Previous: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
AFC (host) | Winners of the 2015 J1 League | 5 December 2015 | 2nd (Previous: 2012) |
Notes
On 22 May 2015, Nagai Stadium in Osaka and International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama were named as the two venues that would be used in the tournament.[10]
| Osaka | Yokohama | |
|---|---|---|
| Nagai Stadium | International Stadium Yokohama | |
| 34°36′50.83″N 135°31′6.42″E | 35°30′35″N 139°36′20″E | |
| Capacity: 47,000 | Capacity: 72,327 | |
The appointed match officials were:[11][12]
| Confederation | Referee | Assistant referees |
|---|---|---|
| AFC | Alireza Faghani (Iran) | Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran) |
| CAF | Sidi Alioum (Cameroon) | Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon) Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue (Cameroon) |
| CONCACAF | Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) | Juan Francisco Zumba (El Salvador) Marvin César Torrentera (Mexico) |
| CONMEBOL | Wilmar Roldán (Colombia) | Alexander Guzmán (Colombia) Cristian Jairo de la Cruz (Colombia) |
| OFC | Matthew Conger (New Zealand) | Simon Lount (New Zealand) Tevita Makasini (Tonga) |
| UEFA | Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) | Mathias Klasenius (Sweden) Daniel Wärnmark (Sweden) |
| Host (support) | Ryuji Sato (Japan) | Akane Yagi (Japan) |
Each team had to name a 23-man squad (three of whom had to be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline of 30 November 2015. The squads of six of the seven teams were released by FIFA on 3 December 2015 (except Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who only confirmed their place in the tournament on 5 December 2015).[13][14] Injury replacements were allowed until 24 hours before the team's first match.[2]
The schedule of the tournament, together with the emblem, was unveiled on 24 August 2015.[15][16]
A draw was held on 23 September 2015, 14:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, to determine the positions in the bracket for the three teams which enter the quarter-finals.[17][18]
If a match was tied after normal playing time:[2]
- For elimination matches, extra time was played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was held to determine the winner.
- For the matches for fifth place and third place, no extra time was played, and a penalty shoot-out was held to determine the winner.
| Play-off for quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| 13 December – Osaka | ||||||||||||||
| 10 December – Yokohama | TP Mazembe | 0 | 16 December – Osaka | |||||||||||
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 0 | |||||||||
| Auckland City | 0 | River Plate | 1 | 20 December – Yokohama | ||||||||||
| River Plate | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 17 December – Yokohama | Barcelona | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 13 December – Osaka | Barcelona | 3 | ||||||||||||
| América | 1 | Guangzhou Evergrande | 0 | |||||||||||
| Guangzhou Evergrande | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Match for fifth place | Match for third place | |||||||||||||
| 16 December – Osaka | 20 December – Yokohama | |||||||||||||
| América | 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2 | |||||||||||
| TP Mazembe | 1 | Guangzhou Evergrande | 1 | |||||||||||
All times are local, JST (UTC+9).[19]
Play-off for quarter-finals
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2–0 | Auckland City |
|---|---|---|
Minagawa  9'Shiotani 70' |
Report |
Quarter-finals
| América | 1–2 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
|---|---|---|
| Peralta 55' |
Report | Zheng Long 80' Paulinho 90+3' |
| TP Mazembe | 0–3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Shiotani 44' Chiba 56'Asano 78' |
Match for fifth place
Semi-finals
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 0–1 | River Plate |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Alario 72' |
| Barcelona | 3–0 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
|---|---|---|
| Suárez 39', 50', 67' (pen.) |
Report |
Match for third place
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2–1 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
|---|---|---|
| Douglas 70', 83' |
Report | Paulinho 4' |
Final
| River Plate | 0–3 | Barcelona |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Messi 36' Suárez 49', 68' |
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The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[28]
| Adidas Golden Ball Alibaba E-Auto Award |
Adidas Silver Ball | Adidas Bronze Ball |
|---|---|---|
 Luis Suárez(Barcelona) |
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |
Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) |
| FIFA Fair Play Award | ||
| Barcelona | ||
FIFA also named a man of the match for the best player in each game at the tournament.[29]
| Match | Man of the match | Club | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Douglas | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Auckland City |
| 2 | Paulinho | Guangzhou Evergrande | América |
| 3 | Kazuyuki Morisaki | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | TP Mazembe |
| 4 |  Osvaldo Martínez | América | TP Mazembe |
| 5 | Lucas Alario | River Plate | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| 6 | Luis Suárez | Barcelona | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| 7 | Takuma Asano | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| 8 | Luis Suárez (2) | Barcelona | River Plate |
- "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.
- "Regulations – FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2015.
- "Japan set to host continental champions in 2015 and 2016". FIFA.com. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015.
- "Blatter: A legacy for the future". FIFA.com. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.
- "Bidding process opened for eight FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014.
- "India may get to host FIFA Club World Cup". India.com. 15 October 2014.
- "High interest in hosting FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
- "India not bidding for 2015 and 2016 Fifa Club World Cups". The Times of India. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- "Football: More matches likely in Club Cup". New Zealand Herald. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- "Osaka to debut as a FIFA Club World Cup venue". FIFA.com. 22 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015.
- "Referees and assistant referees selected". 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015.
- "Referees & Assistant referees for FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
- "Squad lists released for Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015.
- "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 – Squad Lists" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
- "Tickets for the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- "Japan Reveals Official Emblem for FIFA Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015.
- "The draw LIVE on FIFA.com". 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
- "Draw for Japan 2015 conducted in Zurich". FIFA.com. 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
- "Match Schedule – FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- "Match report Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Auckland City FC 2:0 (1:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- "Match report Club América – Guangzhou Evergrande FC 1:2 (0:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 13 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- "Match report TP Mazembe – Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0:3 (0:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 13 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- "Match report Club América – TP Mazembe 2:1 (2:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- "Match report Sanfrecce Hiroshima – River Plate 0:1 (0:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- "Match report FC Barcelona – Guangzhou Evergrande FC 3:0 (1:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- "Match report Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Guangzhou Evergrande FC 2:1 (0:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- "Match report River Plate – FC Barcelona 0:3 (0:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- "Barcelona trio sweep awards". FIFA.com. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015: Technical report and statistics" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 12 February 2021.