Discover three key tips for success at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: how Paris Saint-Germain can reach the semifinals, what Flamengo needs to secure a quarterfinal spot, and the path for Palmeiras to win Group A.
Most of the football world's attention is squarely focused on the end of the European season. In England, nobody could ultimately stop Liverpool from winning the Premier League, while over in Italy, Inter Milan and Napoli are battling out for the Scudetto. In the coming weeks, all three of UEFA's flagship competitions will be drawing to an end, but this summer, there is arguably a bigger prize on offer than even the UEFA Champions League.
That, of course, is the 2025 FIFA World Cup. Throughout the course of June and July, 31 of the planet's finest will head to the United States in a bid to be crowned world champions. The upcoming spectacle has a completely new look from the one we have become accustomed to over the years, with the showdown mirroring its international counterpart rather than a clash between the champions of each respective continent.
Excitement has already reached a fever pitch, and sports betting sites have their favorites priced up. Top online sports betting sites currently make European giants Real Madrid and Manchester City the joint +450 frontrunners, with the likes of Bayern Munich and Inter Milan narrowly behind. But outside of the outright winner, what else is there to bet on?
Well, worry not, as we have three tips ready for you which could cash big at this summer's Club World Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain has been on an absolute tear in 2025. They once again claimed the Ligue 1 title with swagger, as well as making it all the way to the UEFA Champions League final. Victories against Premier League giants Liverpool and Arsenal have proven they are battle-tested, and they are the favorites to reign supreme against Inter Milan in Munich on May 31st.
However, winning the biggest match in European club football won't be the end of their season. The Parisians are also due to head to the United States this summer to contest the revamped FIFA Club World Cup, and it would be a huge surprise if they didn't make a deep tournament run.
In Ousamane Dembele, PSG have arguably the best player on the planet on current form in their ranks, and the Frenchman will be looking to impress once more in the States to potentially cap a Ballon d'Or-winning year. He is supported in a fearsome frontline with former Napoli superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and teenage sensation Désiré Doué, a supporting cast as good as anything else available.
The French champions are a +750 fourth favorite to win the tournament this summer, narrowly behind Real Madrid, Manchester City (both +450), and Bayern Munich (+600). But rather than tipping them for glory, our tip is a modest semifinal appearance at odds of +250.
Luis Enrique's men have a somewhat favorable route to the semifinals. Admittedly, Atletico Madrid will provide a stern test in the group stage, but should they come through that unscathed, then they will be a huge favorite for a second-round meeting with either Porto, Palmeiras, or Inter Miami. In the quarterfinals, they will likely meet either Juventus or Chelsea, and both of those are also very beatable. That will see PSG into the final four, and a bet at odds of +250 looks attractive.
It isn't just European clubs that are set to make a splash in the States this summer. Plenty of big names from South America will be heading north, including Argentine giants River Plate and Boca Juniors, as well as Brazilian champions Botafogo. However, one team that has caught our eye is another from Brazil: Flamengo.
The Rio de Janeiro-based side has made a blistering start to the new Brazilian Serie A, losing just one of their first eight games and occupying second place. At the Club World Cup, Flamengo have been drawn into Group D alongside Premier League outfit Chelsea, and while that might appear ominous on paper, the Blues are a far cry from the team that won the Champions League four years ago.
Alongside those two will be Tunisian side Espérance de Tunis and either Los Angeles FC or Club América, and the Brazilian side will be huge favorites to beat all of them. If they can do that, they will surely progress to the second round, where they could meet River Plate in a huge Brazil vs Argentina showdown. Victory there would see Flamengo through to the quarterfinals, and considering the opposition they will face on the way there, odds of 2/1 to reach the last eight certainly seem generous.
If Flamengo have made a flying start to the Brazilian Serie A season, Palmeiras have been out of this world. They currently top the table and are the favorites to go on and end the campaign as champions. In the Club World Cup, we can see them winning their group too.
They find themselves in Group A, and the European team they have been drawn against is FC Porto, one of the weakest heading to the US this summer. The Portuguese outfit has had a dismal campaign domestically and are well off the pace of table-toppers Sporting CP. Even so, they're the +138 favorite to win group A, but it's +188 Palmeiras that have caught our eye.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami and the Egyptians Al Ahly are the two other teams in the quartet, and the Brazilians will be favorites to beat both. If they do that, a draw against Porto would probably be enough to top the group, but we can see them beating the Portuguese side as well.
