While the ADMIRAL Bundesliga is entering its final phase, with our full focus on that, preparations are ongoing for the very first FIFA Club World Cup this summer.

The inaugural tournament (15 June to 13 July 2025 in the USA) sees the 32 most successful teams from the six international confederations of AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA taking part. The trophy for the eventual winners has been paraded on a World Tour to all clubs taking part, including us in Salzburg.

Qualification thanks to Champions League performances

A key to our Red Bulls' qualification in this tournament has been our performances in the UEFA Champions League over the past four seasons. A total of 12 European teams have qualified, including the past four UEFA Champions League winners, with the rest of the places awarded on the basis of UEFA club coefficients. A maximum of two participants per nation and league were allowed via the coefficients.

We will be taking part in a huge event in a sports-mad country with over 300 million people in it. Sport is properly celebrated there - no matter if it is basketball, ice hockey or American Football. Major League Soccer is also enjoying increased popularity. I think that this tournament is really capturing the mood of the times, and it will be a bit of a warm-up for the 2026 World Cup for FIFA. In any case, it is a big chance for football to increase its standing. The tournament is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for FC Red Bull Salzburg, which we will enjoy and try to fully take in. We are not flying there for a holiday though, as we want to represent Austrian and Salzburg sport as best as we possibly can.

Stephan Reiter, CEO

Base camp in New Jersey

Our team and staff will travel to the USA on 13 June, some five days before the first match. Our base camp for the tournament will be in New Jersey, from where we will fly (to Cincinnati and Washington) and take the bus (to Philadelphia) to our matches. We will train in the New York Red Bulls training centre around 15 minutes away.

At the moment, we are fully concentrated on the Austrian Bundesliga, of course. As we want to do as well as possible in the Club World Cup, we want to plan accordingly, as there are a lot of challenges awaiting us. We are playing in the league until 24 May, and then we have an international window in which several of our players will be on duty. Then the players will have a few days off before we can fully prepare for the Club World Cup. The transfer window for all Club World Cup participants is important, and we want to use that as well as possible.

Rouven Schröder, CEO for Sport

Group stage fixtures & DAZN live broadcasts

Wednesday 18 June, 18:00 local time (CEST 24:00), Cincinnati:
FC Red Bull Salzburg – CF Pachuca (MEX)

Sunday 22 June, 18:00 local time (CEST 24:00), Washington D. C.:
FC Red Bull Salzburg – Al Hilal (SAU)

Thursday 26 June, 21:00 local time (CEST 03:00), Philadelphia:
FC Red Bull Salzburg – Real Madrid (ESP)

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All the matches can be seen for free on streaming service DAZN. Further information on the FIFA Club World Cup can be found on this link.

Just 50 days to the FIFA Club World Cup