Man City set for Club World Cup boost as draw beckons and Real Madrid and Bayern Munich watch on

FIFA unveiled their rulebook for the 2025 Club World Cup this week with an expected demand for sides to play their 'strongest teams' at the tournament.

When that prospect was leaked recently Pep Guardiola reacted angrily, asking what constitutes a strongest team and insisting nobody will tell him who to select. Guardiola's contract at Manchester City expires midway through the tournament, and his desire is to take charge of the club in the USA next summer.

FIFA rules accommodating player contract extensions to cover the Club World Cup and open a new transfer window for transfers has sought to help cases of contracts expiring at the end of June. There are no such rules for managers, however, as they do not need to be registered with FIFA like players do. So if Guardiola wants to sign a two-week extension to manager City at the Club World Cup, he can do so.

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After Inter Miami were confirmed as qualifiers from the host nation by virtue of them winning the MLS Supporters' Shield (and definitely not because Lionel Messi will help sell commercial and broadcast deals), only one place remains to be won at the 32-team tournament.

The final qualifier will be either Atletico Miniero or Botafogo of Brazil, who will compete in the Copa Libertadores final on November 30. That will mean four Brazilian sides will qualify, despite a cap on two teams per association - but as teams qualify automatically by winning a confederation's premier club competition, and there have been three consecutive Brazilian champions of the Copa Libertadores, that marks an exception to the rule.

MEN Sport understands the group stage draw will take place in early December in the USA. The new-look trophy will also be unveiled at the event. At the draw, City will discover their opponents, schedule and game locations. FIFA have not yet revealed the seeding process for the draw, but it is likely to mirror the FIFA World Cup which seeded nations according to their world rankings into four pots.

Other aspects of the tournament have been based on the World Cup, where host nations are often seeded in Pot One - although it remains to be seen whether Inter Miami or fellow MLS qualifiers Seattle Sounders would get that privilege.

World Cup rules limit groups with more than one country from each confederation, except for UEFA teams where the limit was two given the higher number of qualifiers.

As it stands, City qualified with the fourth-highest ranking figure so would comfortably be in pot one alongside Flamengo, Palmeiras, Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Al Ahly, Bayern Munich and River Plate if the same ranking points were used. That means they could potentially avoid Real or Bayern until the knockout stages, and only face one other European side in their four-team group.

While no draw rules have been confirmed, it would also be logical to restrict groups to one club per country as per standard rules for club competitions like the Champions League and Copa Libertadores. So City would surely avoid Chelsea in the group stage as well. The final draw procedure, permutations and seedings are expected to be confirmed by FIFA very soon.