2018_FIFA_Club_World_Cup
2018 FIFA Club World Cup
International football competition
The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 presented by Alibaba for sponsorship reasons)[1] 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.[2] The tournament was hosted by the United Arab Emirates from 12 to 22 December 2018.[3][4]
| FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 presented by Alibaba كأس العالم للأندية لكرة القدم الإمارات العربية المتحدة 2018 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United Arab Emirates |
| Dates | 12–22 December |
| Teams | 7 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Real Madrid (4th title) |
| Runners-up |  Al-Ain |
| Third place |  River Plate |
| Fourth place |  Kashima Antlers |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 8 |
| Goals scored | 33 (4.13 per match) |
| Attendance | 152,675 (19,084 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Gareth Bale Rafael Santos Borré(3 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Gareth Bale |
| Fair play award | Real Madrid |
← 2017 2019 → | |
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.
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.[5] 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.[6] The FIFA Executive Committee was to select the hosts at their meeting in Morocco in December 2014,[7] but the final decision was delayed until the FIFA Executive Committee meetings on 19–20 March 2015.[8]
The following countries expressed an interest in bidding to host the tournament:[9]
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.[3]
The following teams qualified for the tournament.
| Team | Confederation | Qualification | Qualified date | Participation (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entering in the semi-finals | ||||
| River Plate |
CONMEBOL | Winners of the 2018 Copa Libertadores[10] | 9 December 2018[note 1] | 2nd (Previous: 2015) |
| Real MadridTH |
UEFA | Winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League[11] | 26 May 2018 | 5th (Previous: 2000, 2014, 2016, 2017) |
| Entering in the second round | ||||
| Kashima Antlers |
AFC | Winners of the 2018 AFC Champions League[12] | 10 November 2018 | 2nd (Previous: 2016) |
 Espérance de Tunis |
CAF | Winners of the 2018 CAF Champions League[13] | 9 November 2018 | 2nd (Previous: 2011) |
 Guadalajara |
CONCACAF | Winners of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League[14] | 25 April 2018 | 1st |
| Entering in the first round | ||||
 Team Wellington |
OFC | Winners of the 2018 OFC Champions League[15] | 20 May 2018 | 1st |
| Al-Ain |
AFC (host) | Winners of the 2017–18 UAE Pro-League[16] | 14 May 2018[note 2] | 1st |
- Notes
- The second leg of the Copa Libertadores Finals, originally scheduled on 24 November 2018, was postponed to 9 December 2018 due to an attack on the Boca Juniors team bus when several players were injured.
- Al-Ain won the 2017–18 UAE Pro-League on 21 April 2018. Their participation in the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup was officially confirmed on 14 May 2018 after Al-Jazira became the last team from the United Arab Emirates other than Al-Ain to be eliminated from the 2018 AFC Champions League. Al-Ain themselves were eliminated from the 2018 AFC Champions League on 15 May 2018, thereby confirming them entering the first round.
The two venues were the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
| Abu Dhabi | Al Ain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zayed Sports City Stadium | Hazza bin Zayed Stadium | |||
| 24°24′57.92″N 54°27′12.93″E | 24°14′44.14″N 55°42′59.7″E | |||
| Capacity: 43,000 | Capacity: 22,717 | |||
A total of six referees, twelve assistant referees, and six video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.[17][18] FIFA announced on 22 November 2018 that the trio of referees and assistant referees from CAF were changed.[19][20]
| Confederation | Referee | Assistant referees | Video assistant referee |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | Ryuji Sato |
Toru Sagara Hiroshi Yamauchi |
Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed |
| CAF[lower-alpha 1] |  Bamlak Tessema Weyesa |
 Zakhele Thusi Siwela Waleed Ahmed |
|
| CONCACAF |  Jair Marrufo |
Frank Anderson Corey Rockwell |
Mark Geiger |
| CONMEBOL |  Wilton Sampaio |
Rodrigo Figueiredo Bruno Boschilia |
Mauro Vigliano |
| OFC | Matthew Conger |
 Tevita Makasini Mark Rule |
|
| UEFA |  Gianluca Rocchi |
Elenito Di Liberatore Mauro Tonolini |
 Paweł Gil Massimiliano Irrati Danny Makkelie |
Notes
- The officiating team from CAF replaced the original trio of Mehdi Abid Charef, Abdelhak Etchiali (both from Algeria) and Anouar Hmila (from Tunisia).
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.[2]
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).[21] At the time of the draw, the identity of the teams from AFC, CAF and CONMEBOL were not known.[22][23]
If a match was tied after normal playing time:[2]
- 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.
| First round | Second round | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| 15 December – Al Ain | ||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | 3 | 19 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||||
| Guadalajara | 2 | Kashima Antlers | 1 | |||||||||||
| Real Madrid | 3 | 22 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||||
| Real Madrid | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 18 December – Al Ain | Al-Ain | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 15 December – Al Ain | River Plate | 2 (4) | ||||||||||||
| 12 December – Al Ain | Espérance de Tunis | 0 | Al-Ain (p) | 2 (5) | ||||||||||
| Al-Ain (p) | 3 (4) | Al-Ain | 3 | |||||||||||
| Team Wellington | 3 (3) | Match for fifth place | Match for third place | |||||||||||
| 18 December – Al Ain | 22 December – Abu Dhabi | |||||||||||||
| Espérance de Tunis (p) | 1 (6) | Kashima Antlers | 0 | |||||||||||
| Guadalajara | 1 (5) | River Plate | 4 | |||||||||||
All times are local, GST (UTC+4).[24]
First round
| Al-Ain | 3–3 (a.e.t.) | Team Wellington |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
| 4–3 | ||
Second round
Match for fifth place
| Espérance de Tunis | 1–1 | Guadalajara |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
| 6–5 | ||
Semi-finals
| Kashima Antlers | 1–3 | Real Madrid |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Match for third place
| Kashima Antlers | 0–4 | River Plate |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Final
.svg){kind=link}
1 own goal
Léo Silva (Kashima Antlers, against Guadalajara)
Yahya Nader (Al-Ain, against Real Madrid)
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[33]
| Adidas Golden Ball Alibaba Cloud Award |
Adidas Silver Ball | Adidas 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.[34][31][32]
| Match | Man of the match | Club | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khalid Eisa | Al-Ain | Team Wellington |
| 2 |  Hussein El Shahat | Al-Ain | Espérance de Tunis |
| 3 | Shoma Doi | Kashima Antlers | Guadalajara |
| 4 | Rami Jridi | Espérance de Tunis | Guadalajara |
| 5 | Khalid Eisa (2) | Al-Ain | River Plate |
| 6 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | Kashima Antlers |
| 7 | Rafael Santos Borré | River Plate | Kashima Antlers |
| 8 | Marcos Llorente | Real Madrid | Al-Ain |
- "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 UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com.
- "2022 FIFA World Cup to be played in November/December". FIFA.com. 21 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015.
- "OC for FIFA Competitions approves procedures for the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017.
- "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.
- "FIFA Executive committee meeting agenda now available". FIFA. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- "High interest in hosting FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
- "River Plate triumph in Superclásico Libertadores final". FIFA.com. 9 December 2018.
- "Real Madrid make it three in a row". FIFA.com. 26 May 2018.
- "Kashima win maiden AFC Champions League title". FIFA.com. 10 November 2018.
- "Esperance win third African club title". FIFA.com. 9 November 2018.
- "Chivas claim continental glory to end five-decade drought". FIFA.com. 26 April 2018.
- "Team Wellington crowned continental kings, earn Club World Cup berth". FIFA.com. 20 May 2018.
- "Al Ain book UAE 2018 berth". FIFA.com. 22 April 2018.
- "Match officials for UAE 2018 appointed". FIFA.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- "Referees, Assistant Referees & VAR for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com. 16 October 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- "Update to referees list for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018". FIFA.com. 22 November 2018.
- "Draw shows path to Club World Cup title". FIFA.com. 4 September 2018.
- "The FIFA Club World Cup draw explained". FIFA.com. 31 August 2018. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018.
- "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 - Official Draw". YouTube. 4 September 2018.
- "Match Schedule FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com.
- "Match report – First round – Al Ain FC v Team Wellington FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Second round – Kashima Antlers v CD Guadalajara" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Second round – ES Tunis v Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Match for fifth place – ES Tunis v CD Guadalajara" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Semi-finals – CA River Plate v Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Semi-finals – Kashima Antlers v Real Madrid CF" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Match for third place – Kashima Antlers v CA River Plate" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- "Match report – Final – Real Madrid CF v Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- "Bale, Caio and Borre sweep awards". FIFA.com. 22 December 2018.
- "Alibaba Cloud Match Award winners". FIFA. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2021.[dead link]
- FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018, FIFA.com