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The penultimate edition of the Club World Cup in its current format featuring seven teams will kick off in Qatar on Dec. 11 with the final taking place 10 days later, global soccer governing body FIFA announced on Friday. FIFA had said it would revamp the tournament to feature 24 teams from 2021, with Qatar hosting the final two editions in the old style as test events for the World Cup which the Gulf state will host in 2022. Three teams for this year have been confirmed with European champions Liverpool joining CONCACAF champions CF Monterrey and Oceania's Hienghene Sport. The club representing hosts Qatar will depend on the ongoing AFC Champions League. "If a team from Qatar are champions, they qualify directly for the second round ... with the runners-up playing the opening match against Hienghene Sport on Dec. 11," FIFA said in a statement. "If the AFC Champions League winners are not a club from Qatar, the current holders of the Qatar Stars Leagu...

Ten years after Nigeria last hosted a FIFA World Cup event, the country is set for another chance as the world football governing body seems ready to award the country the hosting right of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for 2020. The breakthrough came following months of pressure on FIFA by the Nigerian Football Federation whose president is said to be working hard to bring as many FIFA and CAF competitions to the country. Sources close to FIFA has revealed that officials from the world body are already planning an inspection exercise to Nigeria to ascertain if the country would be fit to host the second biggest women football event on the FIFA calendar. “Officials from Zurich are expected in August for a four-day inspection tour and some of what they would be looking out for during the planned visit is what Nigeria can offer in terms of infrastructure/operations, security, medical. It was also gathered that the world football governing is planning to spend as much as $4...