River Plate was one of Argentina’s two representatives at the 2025 Club World Cup, the first edition of the International Football Association (FIFA) competition with 32 participants, and hopes to be there again in 2029 His down year made his presence conditional, although there are still three seasons left.
To allocate his six places for the next World Cup, which has not yet been held, The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) has decided that four of them will go to the champions of the 2025 (Flamengo), 2026, 2027 and 2028 Libertadores Cups. The other two tickets, which could be higher if there are repeat winners in the top continental competition, They are distributed via a ranking in which the teams in each of the four Libertadores add up points.
The total is calculated from the units that each club achieves from the group stage onwards. Additionally, participating in the championship alone is equivalent to six units, and each time a roll beats an instance, three extra points are awarded.
The first obstacle for the millionaire is that after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2025 Libertadores, he did not qualify for the competition in 2026 and therefore will not be able to add units, let alone become champions. Because of what was done this year at international level – Palmeiras eliminated him – Marcelo Gallardo’s team scored 23 points and is in sixth place in the overall standings because there is no reason to think about Flamengo.
The leader is Palmeiras with 40 goals, followed by Liga de Quito from Ecuador and Racing with 35 each. Further behind are Estudiantes de La Plata (28), San Pablo (25) and Vélez (24). Below the river are Botafogo (21) and Peñarol de Uruguay (20). In the case of the Uruguayan team, it will surpass the Millonario when it begins its participation in the Libertadores 2026 while the Brazilians will also do the same if they enter the groups via the playoffs in which they compete. This is without taking into account other teams such as Boca Juniors who do not have units because they entered the zones in 2025 but will start adding the next competition.
For the occupation of Buenos Aires’ Núñez district, the panorama is complex because it will only be able to add units again for the ranking in Libertadores 2027 and 2028 if it qualifies. If you make it to the Olympic round in one of them, you’ll go straight into the 2029 Club World Cup, regardless of your place on the list.
*Flamengo has 39 points and is second behind Palmeiras, but has already qualified for the 2029 Club World Cup as champions of the 2025 Copa Libertadores.
There is a limit of two places per country. If a team receives a ticket via the ranking list, but their nation already has the two places occupied by the winners of the Libertadores, a decision will be made on the next placed team. The rule does not apply to teams entering the World Cup as continental champions, even if two in their country have already qualified in the same way.
In addition to Flamengo, four other teams have already qualified for the tournament: PSG as champions of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League; Blue Cross because he won the Concachampions 2024-2025; Pyramids of Egypt as winners of the 2024-2025 African Champions League; And Al-Ahli from Saudi Arabia because it achieved the Olympic turnaround in the 2024-2025 Asian Champions League.
The remaining clubs will earn their places in the 2029 Club World Cup over the years, when the continental competitions come to an end and the champions and individual rankings are determined.
In the 2025 edition, the first with 32 teams and a match format similar to the last seven ecumenical editions of the national teams, but without a third place match, the representatives of South America were Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo as champions of the Libertadores Cups played between 2021 and 2024, while River Plate and Boca Juniors above the Conmebol rankings competed.
About The Author
