Mbappe, Messi & Ramos – big names set for Club World Cup

Thirty-two teams from around the globe will take part in the tournament across 11 cities in the United States, with the month-long action beginning at 01:00 BST on Sunday and ending on 13 July.

You do not have to wait long until the superstars appear, with teams having finalised their squads for the big kick-off.

Inter Miami, fortunate to be included as they won the Major League Soccer Supporters’ Shield for the best performance in the MLS regular season – even though LA Galaxy went on to win the actual MLS play-offs and were left out, kick-start the competition on day one.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is part of a legendary quartet of ex-Barcelona players at Inter Miami, alongside former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, midfielder Sergio Busquets and left-back Jordi Alba.

Defender Sergio Ramos, a World Cup winner with Spain in 2010, is captain of Mexican side Monterrey, while striker Oliver Giroud and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris – who both played in France’s World Cup-winning team in 2018 – are in the Los Angeles FC side that will be in the competition after they won a play-off against Mexican side Club America.

Fellow World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann are in the Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid squads respectively.

Fans of the two English teams involved will get an early glimpse of their new signings.

Manchester City have selected Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki in their squad, while Chelsea’s summer recruits – Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr – will also feature.

As part of the mid-tournament registration window, between 27 June and 3 July, clubs can add two extra players, potentially taking their squad size from 35 up to 37. A maximum of six changes can be made to squads.

It promises to be a busy summer for some key members of the England squad.

The Three Lions played two games in June – winning 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona on 7 June before losing 3-1 in a friendly against Senegal at Nottingham Forest three days later.

The game at the City Ground took place just four days before the club tournament starts in the USA.

England captain Harry Kane and midfielders Jude Bellingham and Conor Gallagher will play in the United States for Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid respectively.

Real will have England right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold available for the tournament after they paid Liverpool £8.4m to sign him a month before his contract with the Reds expired.

The Spanish giants have also included centre-back Dean Huijsen, who they signed from Bournemouth for £50m last month.

Chelsea’s England quartet Cole Palmer, Reece James, Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke will be in the United States after a busy end to the season, which included winning the Conference League final on 28 May.

Meanwhile, Phil Foden, John Stones and Rico Lewis will be among the England internationals featuring for Manchester City in the Club World Cup, although Jack Grealish has been left out with his future at the club uncertain.

Culled from BBC