<P> The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body . The competition was first contested in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship . It was not held between 2001 and 2004 due to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure . Since 2005, the competition has been held every year, and has been hosted by Brazil, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco . The FIFA Club World Cup's prestige is perceived quite differently in different parts of the football world: while it is widely regarded as the most distinguished club level trophy in South America, it struggles to attract interest in most of Europe . </P> <P> The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000 . It ran in parallel with the Intercontinental Cup (also known as European / South American Cup), a competition organised jointly by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) first disputed in 1960 by the winners of the European Champions' Cup and the Copa Libertadores . In 2005, after the Intercontinental Cup's last edition, that competition was merged with the Club World Cup's pilot edition and renamed the "FIFA Club World Championship". In 2006, the tournament took its current name . </P> <P> The current format of the tournament involves seven teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about two weeks; the winners of that year's AFC Champions League (Asia), CAF Champions League (Africa), CONCACAF Champions League (North America), Copa Libertadores (South America), OFC Champions League (Oceania) and UEFA Champions League (Europe), along with the host nation's national champions, participate in a straight knock - out tournament . The host nation's national champions dispute a play - off against the Oceania champions, from which the winner joins the champions of Asia, Africa and North America at the quarter - finals . The quarter - final winners go on to face the European and South American champions, who enter at the semi-final stage, for a place in the final . </P> <P> The current champions are Spain's Real Madrid, who defeated Japan's Kashima Antlers 4--2 in the final of the 2016 edition, to win a second title in the competition . European teams have been the most successful, with nine titles . </P>

Who qualifies for the fifa club world cup