Champions League to Club World Cup
Reforms & new competitions: That will change in football in 2024
There are new formats in the Champions League, among others. photo
© Nick Potts/Press Association/dpa
A lot will change for fans, players and coaches in the football year 2024. There are new formats in the Champions League, among others. This also raises concerns about overload.
More games, new competitions and the end of some familiar formats: football fans will have to prepare for numerous changes in the new year. Above all, the reform of the Champions League brings innovations, but a lot of things are also changing for the national team.
The Club World Cup will be completely modified: the Intercontinental Cup will be played from 2024, and there will be a tournament with 32 club teams for the first time in the summer of 2025. There are also new competitions for female soccer players.
This also fuels concerns about increasing stress on players. “Of course you have to be careful not to start overloading them,” warned women’s national coach Horst Hrubesch. The World Leagues Forum (WLF), a global association of more than 40 professional football leagues, and the Fifpro union have also warned of “serious consequences” with regard to the health of the players.
A lot will also change in football in 2024 apart from the new competitions and formats: the entry of an investor into the German Football League is to be perfected, and the top German referees are preparing to explain the decisions of the video evidence in the stadium in the future. There are also various test phases – for example the introduction of time penalties and the offside rule. An overview of all the innovations in 2024:
Champions League reform:
From the 2024/25 season onwards, the game will be played in a new mode; the previously familiar group phase will be eliminated. The premier class becomes a kind of league with 36 clubs, all of which are in a common table. This also applies to the Europa League and the Conference League. All teams initially play four home and four away games against eight different opponents, which are determined using lottery pots. The best eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, the following 16 teams play for the eight remaining places in an additional knockout round. From the round of 16, the Champions League will run in the usual format until the final in Munich in 2025.
Nations League:
There will also be innovations for national coach Julian Nagelsmann and his team in 2024. After the 2024 European Championship, there will be a new quarter-final with home and away games in the Nations League for the winners and runners-up of the highest league. Relegation relegation is also new. However, the number of games should not increase, as in the future there will be groups with four and five teams instead of the previous five and six teams in qualifying for the World and European Championships.
Club World Cup:
The format of the Club World Cup will also change next season. The new Intercontinental Cup will be played for the first time in December 2024. The Champions League winner from Europe then meets the winner of a qualifying tournament for the other continental champions. The new Club World Cup will take place in the USA for the first time in 2025 with 32 teams and a total of 63 games. FC Bayern is sure to be fighting for the second German ticket in the current Champions League season with Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.
DFL investor:
With a view to the Bundesliga, fans also have to adapt to changes. The entry of an investor into the German Football League should be confirmed by the end of March. After the 36 professional clubs spoke out in favor of the deal, the DFL negotiated with several interested parties. The contract should have a maximum term of 20 years and be signed by the start of the 2024/25 season.
Women’s football:
A lot is also changing for female soccer players. Although the new Champions League with 18 instead of the previous 16 teams and the second European Cup competition with 64 teams will not come until the 2025/26 season – the coming season is already crucial in terms of qualification. In the future, the champions and runners-up from the Bundesliga could qualify directly for the premier class, provided that the league takes at least second place in the UEFA five-year ranking – as is currently the case. Teams can also buy tickets for the new competition through the league.
Referee:
There will be no fixed changes for the top German referees in 2024, but various test phases are underway. In this way, the referees are prepared to briefly explain video evidence decisions to the fans in the stadium in the future. To this end, the International Football Association Board (Ifab) is conducting a one-year test phase. The same applies to the introduction of time penalties in the professional sector and a possible change to the offside rule, which the world association FIFA is currently testing.