Seattle will host three Club World Cup games next summer

The Club World Cup is officially coming to Seattle and Lumen Field next summer. FIFA made the announcement during an event in New York City on Saturday where all 12 venues for the newly expanded 32-team tournament were revealed. The tournament will take place from June 15 to July 13 with all 64 games being played in 11 United States cities.

The Seattle Sounders, who earned qualification after winning the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, later confirmed that they will play all three of their group stage games at Lumen Field.

It was not yet clear how ticketing would be managed, but stated “Sounders FC is working directly with FIFA on Alliance Member access to Club World Cup matches at Lumen Field.”

Details on how the Sounders’ league schedule will be altered to accommodate the competition have yet to be revealed. The expectation is that Lumen Field will install temporary grass for the matches.

Seattle lost the league’s first and only Club World Cup match in 2023, which was contested in the older format without a group stage and just seven total teams.

“Hosting the FIFA Club World Cup at Lumen Field is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our fans and our organization. Never before have we faced the world’s top club sides in expanded competitive play,” Sounder majority owner Adrian Hanauer said. “The fact that the first edition of this new tournament is being played in our country and our city is historic.”

Among the teams who have already qualified are European giants like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Atletico Madrid; Liga MX sides Monterrey, Club Leon and Pachuca; and South American clubs Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, River Plate and Boca Juniors. There remain two unfilled spots, which includes a host team from MLS, for which the qualification standards have not yet been decided.