by Cameron Moore (7th)

Summer 2025 Preview

Hello, readers. Happy end of the year to all of you! 

While all of us are very excited about this summer, the sporting stage isn’t so enthusiastic. Unlike last year, there are no Olympics to hang onto for the summer. There will also be no World Cups, men or women, this summer. So, what do we have on the lineup?
 

Club World Cup 2025

A new event will be rising to the top of the FIFA stage this summer: the Club World Cup, right here, in the US of A. The competition has been expanded to 32 teams, the same size as the Men’s World Cup from 1998-2022. 

Each continental confederation got a certain number of slots based on strength of teams: Europe (UEFA) got 12, South America (CONMEBOL) got 6, North America (Concacaf), Asia (AFC), and Africa (CAF) each got 4, Oceania (OFC) got 1, and the last spot was decided in a playoff between Mexico’s Club America and the US’s Los Angeles FC, where the latter won.

Side Note: North America originally got 5 spots, with the 5th spot going to 2023 Concacaf winners Leόn. But, under FIFA rules, two teams owned by the same group cannot participate in one tournament. So, because Leόn was already drawn into a group, a playoff was held between the next-best Concacaf teams instead.

But how do teams get these spots? It uses a simple but effective system. The winners of the last four continental tournaments (2021-2024) get an automatic bid, while the rest of the spots are determined by a four-year ranking system. Let’s look at Europe, for example.

Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Manchester City get auto bids, since they have won a Champions League within the past four years. FIFA then goes down the list of the teams with the highest 4-year ranking without winning the Champions League, until they have the right amount.

Here are the groups:

• Group A
  • Palmeiras (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
  • FC Porto (Portugal, UEFA)
  • Al Ahly (UAE, AFC)
  • Inter Miami CF (USA, Concacaf)
• Group B
  • Paris Saint-Germain (France, UEFA)
  • Atlético Madrid (Spain, UEFA)
  • Botafogo (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
  • Seattle Sounders FC (USA, Concacaf)
• Group C
  • Bayern Munich (Germany, UEFA)
  • Auckland City (New Zealand, OFC)
  • Boca Juniors (Argentina, CONMEBOL)
  • Benfica (Portugal, UEFA)
• Group D
  • Flamengo (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
  • Espérance de Tunis (Tunisia, CAF)
  • Chelsea (England, UEFA)
  • LAFC (USA, Concacaf)
• Group E
  • Inter Milan (Italy, UEFA)
  • Monterrey (Mexico, Concacaf)
  • River Plate (Argentina, CONMEBOL)
  • Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan, AFC)
• Group F
  • Dortmund (Germany, UEFA)
  • Fluminense (Brazil, CONMEBOL)
  • Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa, CAF)
  • Ulsan HD (South Korea, AFC)
• Group G
  • Al Ain (United Arab Emirates, AFC)
  • Juventus (Italy, UEFA)
  • Manchester City (England, UEFA)
  • Wydad AC (Morocco, CAF)
• Group H
  • Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia, AFC)
  • Pachuca (Mexico, Concacaf)
  • Real Madrid (Spain, UEFA)
  • Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, UEFA)

With all of these teams from all over the world, it will be interesting to see how this summer’s tournament will play out, especially with an additional transfer window that all of these club teams will need to strategize around.

NBA Finals

The NBA Finals have already started and will stretch into the early days of summer break. The playoffs have been fantastic up to this point! MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander has gone crazy in the postseason, leading a strong Oklahoma City side to the Finals. In the meantime, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers have been the story of the playoffs. They beat the top-seeded Cavaliers in the conference semis and pulled off some crazy wins against the Knicks to make it to the NBA Finals. Who do you think will win it all?

Stanley Cup Finals

I’m not making the Stanley Cup joke again. But I will preview it.

Two strongmen--the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers--are this year’s combatants in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers have been here before multiple times in the past few years, and this isn’t uncommon grounds for Edmonton, either. Will Connor McDavid and the Oilers lift the cup? Or will the Panthers continue their dynasty? Only time will tell.

And…that’s it. Yeah. Pretty anticlimactic. At least this is my last article of the year. Number 15 of 15 Sportscast articles this school year. Soo…that’s exciting.

I do have a couple of closing remarks. First of all, it’s insane to think I’m about to wrap up my second year here. It’s truly been awesome in the SCOOP so far.I would also like to recognize the eighth graders here at CMS. They are awesome people and I am excited to see them go to high school next year. They deserve it and I hope the best for all of them.

Anyway, that’s it. See you at the ‘25 Summer Recap, and HAGS!