The World Cup is the major tournament where different nations can test their quality against each other, and from all over the world. When dealing with club football there is only one tournament every year where teams from all over the world can play each other, the FIFA Club World Cup. The Club World Cup has been organized entirely by FIFA in its current format since 2000, with a brief interruption of four years and a few modifications here and there. In the past the title of "World Champion" came from a match played between the champion of South America versus the champion of Europe. As of 2012, most teams qualify to the FIFA Club World by winning their continental competitions, be it the Asian AFC Champions League, African CAF Champions League, North American CONCACAF Champions League, South American Copa Libertadores, Oceanian OFC Champions League or European UEFA Champions League. Along with the fore mentioned, the host nation's national league champions qualify to participate in the tournament as well. The competition is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary; it features seven clubs competing over a two week period.
In the 2012 version of the tournament, the Brazilian team Corinthians FC beat the English Chelsea FC by a score of 1-0. The goal was scored by Corinthians' Peruvian star striker José Paolo Guerrero. The competition was held in two different host cities in Japan, Toyota and Yokohama in two state-of-the-art stadiums. This year's clubs were: Corinthians FC (Brazil), Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea), Monterrey (Mexico), Chelsea FC (England), Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan), Auckland City (New Zealand), and Al-Ahly (Egypt). This tournament was a special one because of the involvement of Corinthians FC. Known for having the biggest and most passionate fan base in São Paulo, the fans traveled in bunches to Japan. For the first time in this tournament's history was the stadium actually full with fans from one of the team's playing, and not only sympathizers and locals. This tournament is also notorious for being more of a big deal for South Americans than for the Europeans. The truth is that the South American calendar makes it easier for clubs to travel to Asia with a longer time to prepare. This year Chelsea FC broke this tabu that European clubs aren't as into this title as the South Americans, with numerous interviews with players and coach Rafa Benitez emphasizing how important this victory would be. It was also very clear after the match was over, and many Chelsea players were either sobbing or just very disappointed. Also, with Corinthians FC winning the Club World Cup this year, Europe and South America are now tied with 26 wins each.
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| José Paolo Guerrero, scored Corinthians' two goals in the Club World Cup |
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