City skipper Kyle Walker looks forward to a Club first – and hopefully another trophy…

Kyle Walker says taking part in the FIFA Club World Cup has been a long-time career goal.

The City skipper is hoping to lift the trophy for the first time in Club history, with the Blues just two wins away from being crowned the best club side in the world.

“It’s great for the football club because we’ve earned the right to be there by winning the Champions League,” said Walker.

“It’s a step in the right direction and a step in the direction that I wanted to take when I first joined City.

“For what the lads achieved last year, hopefully we can go on and win this. It will really put the icing on the cake and all the hard work will go right to the end.”

The Club World Cup is being hosted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this year and the first round began on 12 December.

As Champions League winners, City come in at the semi-final stage and will face Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan who saw off Club Leon of Mexico in the previous round.

Should the Blues beat Urawa, we will face the winners of the tie between Brazilian side Fluminense and Egyptian team Al Ahly in the final.

That game will be held on 22 December, as will the third place play-off.

The criteria for qualification is being the winners of the AFC Champions League (Asia), CAF Champions League (Africa), CONCACAF Champions Cup (North, Central America, and Caribbean), CONMEBOL Libertadores (South America), OFC Champions League (Oceania) and the UEFA Champions League (Europe) – as well as the host nation's national champions.

For Walker, City’s title of European champions is still sinking in.

“It puts a smile on my face to be the best club team in Europe – it’s a fantastic achievement,” he said.

“We’re going out there and playing against good sides as well, but we just have to do what we’ve been doing since the moment I arrived in this place, especially in the last couple of seasons, which is taking it game by game, winning the semi-final, winning the final and hopefully coming home as champions.”

Should City achieve that goal, we will be the proud holders of five major trophies at the same – the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, European Super Cup and – potentially – the FIFA Club World Cup – it would be an incredible haul of silverware and Walker recognises the size of magnitude that would represent.

“It would be the icing on the cake,” he said.

“It makes everything worthwhile. Obviously, to win the Champions League is the main prize, but this is the extra bonus prize - and who doesn’t like an extra bonus prize? To go and win that in Saudi would be fantastic.

“You’re always excited to play in these big games and competitions – competitions that reward you for achieving something good.  It’s always great, but it’s going to be difficult – there are some tough teams with good players, but we'll do our best.

“We need to make sure when we go there that we’re not just there to participate or out on vacation - we’re there to bring something back that this great Club hasn’t won before.”

And Walker is keen for Pep Guardiola to add to his stunning career haul as a manger.

The boss has won the Club World Cup three times before during his time as Barcelona and Bayern manager and Walker believes he deserves all the accolades that come his way.

“Everyone knows what he’s like as a coach as you see day in, day out," he said. "He’s intense – that’s how he gets the best out of his players wherever he has been.

“He has managed some fantastic clubs and some great players, and he seems to always bring out the best in them.

“His desire to win and passion to succeed – not just in games, but daily in training – separates him from the rest.”

Phil Foden wants more silverware...

The Academy graduate, still only 23, has so far won 15 major trophies and early in the New Year, he will clock up his 250^th appearance for City.

He has some incredible statistics for someone so young and has a collection of winners medals most players wouldn’t get near if they had two or three careers.

But he wants more, and that’s a recurring theme that runs throughout the City squad.

It’s a hunger and a thirst that cannot be quenched and the prospect of winning the FIFA Club World Cup is something Foden desperately wants.

“Yeah, definitely,” he agreed.

“I think when we reached the final against Chelsea and lost, it just gave us a lot of belief to go again because we reached the final.

“When you play those big games, you just understand how to play them a bit more if that makes sense, you feel less pressure.

“You just go into the game more confident and knowing what you need to do.

“So now we've won the Champions League, hopefully when we get into the latter stages again and we can take that experience and try and do it again.  

“The Club World Cup is something new for the Club; it's a new experience.

“It's one that we want to win and be the first to hold all five trophies at once because we already have the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Premier League, and FA Cup.

“It's all about just making history, so it's another thing to add on to the list, if we achieve it.

“So yeah, I’m looking forward to it. To win that many trophies in one year would be a massive achievement.

“It's so difficult to do - even the European Super Cup - we won on pens. That was such a challenging game. So yeah, so happy to get over the line.” 

City have gone 20 games without defeat in European competition – a record for an English side and one that stretches back more than 15 months.

After so many years of trying to win the Champions League, there is a maturity and assuredness among the City players when playing in European competition that should serve us well in the Club World Cup.

Foden notes the difference and says that a feeling of destiny replaced any anxiety or nerves, citing the build-up to last June’s Champions League final against Inter as the perfect example of how far the Club has come.

"Yeah, I think you could see actually from the training (in Istanbul) that everyone was just laughing and joking," said Foden.

“That's just the confidence that we have now - not in an arrogant way - I think we just all believe in each other so much.

“We’re a good team off the field as well, with good team bonding. I think that's important. So when we go into the field, we know we're going to work for each other and fight for each other so it's so important to have this and I think that's what often gives us gives us that edge over other teams.”

With only three English winners of the Club World Cup to date, City aim to make it four and join Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool on the winners board.

And if City can come back from Saudi Arabia with the trophy, Foden is hoping we can go on and retain as many of the trophies we won last season in the months ahead.

And the prospect of playing in a Champions League final at Wembley next May is something very appealing to the young England playmaker - if City can manage to reach it for a third time in four years.

“It would be nice,” he smiled.

“I try not think about it as it's a long way off, but obviously for it to be at Wembley is so good. Let's hope we can reach it.”

City will play two matches in Saudi Arabia for the 2023 Club World Cup.

The Blues enter the competition at the semi-final stage, knowing that victory will take us straight to the final on 22 December.

Defeat in the final four clash would see us play in the third place play-off instead a few hours before the final happens.

We have to wait until 15 December to find out our semi-final opponent, as that’s when Mexican side Leon and Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds face off in the second round.

Every match at the competition will be played in the city of Jeddah.

The second largest city in the country behind the capital, Riyadh, Jeddah is on the west coast of Saudi Arabia alongside the Red Sea.

It is the home of two of Saudi Arabia’s largest clubs. The current champions and one of the other sides involved at the Club World Cup, Al-Ittihad, play there as do Al-Ahli.

Here’s a little more about the two stadiums that are hosting matches during the upcoming tournament…

King Abdullah Sports City

Matches

King Abdullah Sports City will host five of the seven matches in the competition, including both semi-finals and the final.

City will first be in the stadium for our semi-final against Urawa Red Diamonds on 19 December. That match will kick off at 18:00 (UK).

The final will be at 18:00 (UK) on Friday 22 December.

Capacity

62,345. It is the biggest stadium in Jeddah, and the second biggest in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh's King Fahd Stadium.

Year opened

Nicknamed The Jewel, the stadium was opened in May 2014 for the final of that year’s King’s Cup.

Tenants and events

Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli both play there on occasion, although they also play at the city’s other main stadium – which will host two matches at this Club World Cup.

Saudi Arabia’s national side also play there when not hosting matches in Riyadh. It’s a successful ground for the side as well, winning all four of their World Cup qualifiers there since 2021.

Away from football, the stadium has hosted some of the biggest boxing bouts in recent years including Anthony Joshua’s clash with Oleksandr Usyk in August 2022.

In tennis, the Next Generation ATP Finals will be held there from 2023 to 2027.

Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium

Matches

The Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium will host the second round meeting between Leon and Urawa Red Diamonds at 14:30 (UK) on 15 December.

It will then also stage the match for third place at 14:30 (UK) on 22 December.

General information

The stadium’s capacity is approximately 27,000. Initially opened in 1970, it was closed for nine years between 2012 and 2021 as it underwent modernisation and maintenance. It is located in the south east of Jeddah near the King Abdulaziz University.

Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli still play home matches in the stadium, although they also play at the King Abdullah Sports City too depending on the status of the match. It was regularly used for Saudi Arabia national team matches until the King Abdullah Sports City was completed in 2014.

Ruben Dias want to make sure City’s first FIFA Club World Cup ends with another trophy…

Now in his fourth season as a Manchester City player, it’s easy to forget Ruben Dias is still only 26.

He passed the 150 appearances milestone with the 2-1 win at Luton earlier this month and is one of our five elected captains.

A leader on and off the pitch, he has won seven major trophies so far with City, and now he wants the FIFA Club World Cup to add to his ever-expanding collection of winner's medals.

“Do I want to win it? Definitely, because it's the first time for the Club and it's a new competition for myself,” said Dias.

“It's special because for us to be there, you have to win the Champions League, which is not easy!

“We know it won’t be easy to win this tournament - not at all - and it's kind of like being in a World Cup, playing against clubs from different nations with different cultures.

“In the Premier League you kind of know what to expect, but over there, it's going to be a bit different. Of course, we'll know all about the teams we face ahead of the games, but it will be different.”

The Portuguese defender says he knows the Blues are representing Europe at the Club World Cup, along with clubs from all over the globe.

But he is focused on winning the trophy for Manchester City and the Club’s supporters before anything else.

“Obviously we'll be representing City and ourselves first for what we did last season," said Dias.

"It's a big competition and representing Europe is in the back of our minds, but we want to win it for our Club and for our fans

City skipper Steph Houghton looks forward to a tournament she would relish taking part in…

Steph Houghton has no doubts about the prestige winning the FIFA Club World Cup would bring Manchester City.

The Manchester City Women’s skipper has played at World Cups, European Championships, and in the Champions League in her illustrious career for club and country.

Houghton says the hunger to win silverware for the Club is unquenchable, and the opportunity to win the Club World Cup is one she believes the players will be going full tilt at in Saudi Arabia.

“I think it’s one of those tournaments where we, as a Club, can be really proud of being a part of it,” said Houghton.

“First of all, it comes because of that first historic Champions League win last summer where the boys were absolutely immense in the final and throughout the whole tournament.

“Now we have a chance to win another trophy, which is what this Club is all about and we can go and prove ourselves against the best in the world once again.”

With the opposition not that well known to fans in the UK and many other territories around the globe, is there a danger of coming up against a surprise package in terms of tactics and ability?

“Obviously, when you go into these kind of tournaments, and having watched them in the past, you get teams who have different styles and personalities and whereas we know what we are up against in the Premier League week in, week out, this will be the first time we’ve played any of these sides and our lads will want to prove themselves against the best from around the world,” said Houghton.

“If I went into the lads’ changing room and asked them whether they wanted to win the Club World Cup, of course they would want to. The potential to hold five major trophies at one time is not something that most players will ever have the chance of achieving.

“We all know how good this team is and we’ve already won the UEFA Super Cup when we probably weren’t at our sharpest after pre-season, so to win the Club World Cup as well would be pretty special.

“The aim of this Club is to be the best in the world. We’ve already won the Champions League to be crowned the best team in Europe and now there is the chance to be officially the best in the world.

“And it’s not just from a footballing point of view - we want to best on and off the pitch, in business, and to keep that family, community feel. We keep striving towards being the best in those areas as well.”

Does the 121-times capped Lioness believe success in Saudi Arabia could be the perfect platform for the second half of the 2023/24 campaign for the men’s team?

“It might help us because we’ll have a slightly different sort of mindset and different pressure for the Club World Cup – the Premier League is relentless, as we all know – and obviously, it’s going to be a close title race this season, but we always come good and sometimes you just have to ride the results we had recently,” she said.

“We’ve had a few injuries, but those players are starting to come back now. City always hit top form when it is needed and hopefully that will happen around the Christmas period and beyond.”

And is it time there was a FIFA Club World Cup for the women’s game? Houghton thinks it is…

“There’s no equivalent as yet, but from my point of view, why not?” she said.

“If the men’s game has this kind of competition, why doesn’t the women’s game not have the same opportunity?

“You want to prove yourself against the best and the chance to win a trophy is what you measure your career by and the more finals you can play in, the better, so hopefully that will come in the not-too-distant future.”