No team has enjoyed more success in the history of the Club World Cup than Real Madrid, so will they be crowned champions of the world again?
1) Who will Real Madrid face at the Club World Cup?
Real Madrid have been drawn into Group H and these are their group stage fixtures:
18 June: vs Al-Hilal. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
22 June: vs Pachuca. Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte.
26 June: vs RB Salzburg. Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.
2) Spanish success
Real Madrid have won a record 36 La Liga titles, which is a record, eight more than fierce rivals Barcelona. Los Blancos are also 20-times Copa del Rey winners, while they also have 13 Supercopa de España trophies in their collection. This means, in total, they boast 69 Spanish domestic honours, second only to Barça's haul of 75.
3) The kings of Europe
Nevertheless, Real Madrid are the undisputed kings of Europe. Los Merengues won the first five editions of the European Cup in the late-1950s, while they've since added nine Champions League crowns since 1998. In fact, astonishingly, in six of the last 12 seasons, Real Madrid have been European champions, featuring in 18 finals, winning 15 of them overall, by far the most of any club.
4) A trophyless campaign
Given all their historic success, this season was a massive failure for los Blancos, picking up no major silverware in 2025 so far. They embarrassingly lost all four Clásico in a single season for the first time ever, beaten 4-0 by Barça at the Bernabéu, 4-3 at Montjuïc last month and again in both the finals of the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa, defeated 3-2 and 5-2 respectively.
These league loses saw Real Madrid finish second in La Liga, four points below Barcelona, while their Champions League title defence came to an end at the quarter-final stage, shocking hammered 5-1 on aggregate by Arsenal. Thus, so far, the only trophies they've added to the cabinet are the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup, but they certainly would've hoped for more.
5) Past Club World Cup expirence
Fair to say, Real Madrid have plenty of expirence at previous iterations of this tournament.
Firstly, they featured in five editions of the Intercontinental Cup, winning the competition on three occasions, a joint-record, beating Peñarol in 1960, Vasco da Gama in '98 and Olimpia four years later.
Los Blancos then featured in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in 2000, only finishing fourth, despite not actually losing a game in Brazil. Since then though, they've become the most-successful side in Club World Cup history, capturing the trophy five times since 2014, winning all ten matches they've played, scoring 31 goals and conceding just nine. Their domination of FIFA competitions continued last December, demolishing Pachuca 3-0 in the Intercontinental Cup Final in Qatar, with Kylian Mbappé, Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior all on target.
6) New signings
Ahead of this summer's tournament, Real Madrid have been busy in the transfer market. They have reportedly paid Liverpool €10m to ensure Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose contract on Merseyside was due to expire on 30 June, can feature at this tournament, thereby set to debut in Miami.
Alongside, Dean Huijsen has arrived from Bournemouth for a reported £50m, so the 20 year old Spain international will also add much-needed reinforcements to the back-line.
7) Real Madrid players to watch: Kylian Mbappé
Despite the fact it was, as outlined, a disappointing season for Real Madrid collectively, Kylian Mbappé's was excellent during his first campaign in the Spanish capital.
The Frenchman's tally of 31 La Liga goals saw him pick up the Pichichi Trophy, netting 43 times across all competitions, bagging hat-tricks against Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Valladolid. So now, can Mbappé fire Real Madrid to Club World Cup glory this summer?
8) Real Madrid players to watch: Luka Modrić
When selecting a Real Madrid player to watch, there are so many to chose from. Honourable mentions for Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham, Thibaut Courtois and others, but we have to highlight the club's most-decorated player of all-time.
Set to celebrate his 40th birthday in September, Luka Modrić will wave goodbye to los Blancos after this tournament having, to date, made 591 appearances for the club, only eight men have more. In terms of major titles, the Croatian stands alone, having picked up 28 since joining the club in 2012, including six Champions Leagues and four Club World Cups, the most of any Real player ever.
Modrić will join AC Milan as a free agent later this summer, but will be looking to sign off with one final major honour before his illustrious Madrid career comes to an end.
9) Manager Xabi Alonso: the start of something special?
Given Real Madrid's disastrous season already alluded to, Carlo Ancelotti has departed the club by mutual consent, becoming the new Brazil manager. Across two spells and 353 matches, Ancelotti is the most-successful Madrid boss in history, picking up 15 major honours, surpassing Miguel Muñoz's haul, so won't be an easy act to follow.
Well, Florentino Pérez quickly went out and got his guy, that man being Xabi Alonso. The former Real midfielder, in his first-ever senior managerial role, led Bayer Leverkusen to an invincible domestic treble, winning the Bundesliga title, the DFB-Pokal and the DFL-Supercup undefeated, also reaching the Europa League Final that season. In total, Alonso won 89 of 140 matches in charge of die Werkself, claiming the club's first-ever Meisterschale, a monumental achievement.
Now, Alonso has a big job on his hands in Madrid, but winning the Club World Cup straight away would not be a bad way to start?
10) Are Real Madrid favourites to win the Club World Cup?
Real Madrid's Club World Cup campaign commences against Al-Hilal in Miami, before also taking on Pachuca in Charlotte and then RB Salzburg in Philadelphia. Los Blancos have smashed all three of those teams in the last two years or so, 5-3, 3-0 and 5-1 respectively, so are overwhelming favourites to top Group H.
After that, the difficultly level is sure to increase, set to run into either Manchester City or Juventus in the round of 16, but los Merengues have to be considered amongst the favourites to go all the way.