2015 FIFA Club World Cup
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015
presented by Alibaba E-Auto
Alibaba E-Auto プレゼンツ
FIFAクラブワールドカップ ジャパン2015
Tournament details
Host countryJapan
Dates10–20 December
Teams7 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Barcelona (3rd title)
Runners-upArgentina River Plate
Third placeJapan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Fourth placeChina Guangzhou Evergrande
Tournament statistics
Matches played8
Goals scored21 (2.63 per match)
Attendance272,312 (34,039 per match)
Top scorer(s)Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
5 goals
Best player(s)Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
Fair play awardSpain Barcelona

The 2015 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 presented by Alibaba E-Auto for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 12th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations, as well as the host nation's league champions.[2] The tournament was hosted by Japan between 10 and 20 December 2015.[3]

Defending champions Real Madrid did not qualify as they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. The eventual winners of that competition, Barcelona, went on to win a record third Club World Cup title, beating Guangzhou Evergrande 3–0 in the semi-finals before beating River Plate by the same margin in the final.

Host bids

The application process for the 2015–2016 as well as the 2017–2018 editions, i.e. two hosts, each hosting two years, began in February 2014.[4] Member associations interested in hosting had to submit a declaration of interest by 30 March 2014, and provide the complete set of bidding documents by 25 August 2014.[5] The FIFA Executive Committee was to select the hosts at their meeting in Morocco in December 2014.[6] However, no such decision regarding the 2015–2016 host was made until 2015.

The following countries expressed an interest in bidding to host the tournament:[7]

Japan was officially confirmed as the host of the 2015 and 2016 tournaments on 23 April 2015.[3]

Proposed change to format

Under a proposed change to the competition, led by the Oceania Football Confederation, the new format would mean a removal of the knockout rounds for the quarter-finals and play-off round, replacing it with two round-robin groups of three teams, consisting of two teams from the host nation and the champions of AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, and OFC, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals to play the champions of CONMEBOL and UEFA. This would allow for all teams to play at least two matches, avoiding the current situation where the loser of the play-off round would play only one match.[9] However, this proposal was not implemented.[3]

Qualified teams

Team Confederation Qualification Qualified date Participation (bold indicates winners)
Entering in the semi-finals
Argentina River Plate CONMEBOL Winners of the 2015 Copa Libertadores 22 July 2015[note 1] 1st
Spain Barcelona UEFA Winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League 6 June 2015 4th (Previous: 2006, 2009, 2011)
Entering in the quarter-finals
China Guangzhou Evergrande AFC Winners of the 2015 AFC Champions League 21 November 2015 2nd (Previous: 2013)
Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe CAF Winners of the 2015 CAF Champions League 8 November 2015 3rd (Previous: 2009, 2010)
Mexico América CONCACAF Winners of the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League 29 April 2015 2nd (Previous: 2006)
Entering in the play-off for quarter-finals
New Zealand Auckland City OFC Winners of the 2014–15 OFC Champions League 26 April 2015 7th (Previous: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima AFC (host) Winners of the 2015 J1 League 5 December 2015 2nd (Previous: 2012)

Notes

  1. ↑ River Plate qualified as the CONMEBOL representatives on 22 July 2015 when UANL, who are from Mexico and not eligible to represent CONMEBOL in the FIFA Club World Cup, were confirmed as their opponents in the final.

Venues

On 22 May 2015, Nagai Stadium in Osaka and International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama were named as the two venues that would be used in the tournament.[10]

Osaka Yokohama
Nagai Stadium International Stadium Yokohama
34°36′50.83″N 135°31′6.42″E / 34.6141194°N 135.5184500°E / 34.6141194; 135.5184500 (Nagai Stadium) 35°30′35″N 139°36′20″E / 35.50972°N 139.60556°E / 35.50972; 139.60556 (International Stadium Yokohama)
Capacity: 47,000 Capacity: 72,327

Match officials

The appointed match officials were:[11][12]

Confederation Referee Assistant referees
AFC Alireza Faghani (Iran) Reza Sokhandan (Iran)
Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran)
CAF Sidi Alioum (Cameroon) Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon)
Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue (Cameroon)
CONCACAF Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Juan Francisco Zumba (El Salvador)
Marvin César Torrentera (Mexico)
CONMEBOL Wilmar Roldán (Colombia) Alexander Guzmán (Colombia)
Cristian Jairo de la Cruz (Colombia)
OFC Matthew Conger (New Zealand) Simon Lount (New Zealand)
Tevita Makasini (Tonga)
UEFA Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) Mathias Klasenius (Sweden)
Daniel Wärnmark (Sweden)
Host (support) Ryuji Sato (Japan) Akane Yagi (Japan)

Squads

Each team had to name a 23-man squad (three of whom had to be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline of 30 November 2015. The squads of six of the seven teams were released by FIFA on 3 December 2015 (except Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who only confirmed their place in the tournament on 5 December 2015).[13][14] Injury replacements were allowed until 24 hours before the team's first match.[2]

Matches

The schedule of the tournament, together with the emblem, was unveiled on 24 August 2015.[15][16]

A draw was held on 23 September 2015, 14:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, to determine the positions in the bracket for the three teams which enter the quarter-finals.[17][18]

If a match was tied after normal playing time:[2]

  • For elimination matches, extra time was played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was held to determine the winner.
  • For the matches for fifth place and third place, no extra time was played, and a penalty shoot-out was held to determine the winner.

All times are local, JST (UTC+9).[19]

Play-off for quarter-finals

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Japan2–0New Zealand Auckland City
Minagawa 9'
Shiotani 70'		 Report
Attendance: 19,421[20]

Quarter-finals

América Mexico1–2China Guangzhou Evergrande
Peralta 55' Report Zheng Long 80'
Paulinho 90+3'
Attendance: 18,772[21]
TP Mazembe Democratic Republic of the Congo0–3Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Report Shiotani 44'
Chiba 56'
Asano 78'
Attendance: 23,609[22]

Match for fifth place

América Mexico2–1Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe
Benedetto 19'
Zúñiga 28'		 Report Kalaba 43'
Attendance: 11,686[23]

Semi-finals

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Japan0–1Argentina River Plate
Report Alario 72'
Attendance: 20,133[24]
Barcelona Spain3–0China Guangzhou Evergrande
Suárez 39', 50', 67' (pen.) Report
Attendance: 63,870[25]

Match for third place

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Japan2–1China Guangzhou Evergrande
Douglas 70', 83' Report Paulinho 4'
Attendance: 47,968[26]

Final

River Plate Argentina0–3Spain Barcelona
Report Messi 36'
Suárez 49', 68'
Attendance: 66,853[27]

Goalscorers

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Uruguay Luis Suárez Spain Barcelona 5
2 Brazil Paulinho China Guangzhou Evergrande 2
Brazil Douglas Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Japan Tsukasa Shiotani Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
5 Argentina Darío Benedetto Mexico América 1
Mexico Oribe Peralta Mexico América
Mexico Martín Eduardo Zúñiga Mexico América
Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
China Zheng Long China Guangzhou Evergrande
Zambia Rainford Kalaba Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe
Argentina Lucas Alario Argentina River Plate
Japan Takuma Asano Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Japan Kazuhiko Chiba Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Japan Yusuke Minagawa Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[28]

Adidas Golden Ball
Alibaba E-Auto Award		 Adidas Silver Ball Adidas Bronze Ball
Uruguay Luis Suárez
(Barcelona)		 Argentina Lionel Messi
(Barcelona)		 Spain Andrés Iniesta
(Barcelona)
FIFA Fair Play Award
Spain Barcelona

FIFA also named a man of the match for the best player in each game at the tournament.[29]

Alibaba E-Auto Match Award
Match Man of the match Club Opponent
1 Brazil DouglasJapan Sanfrecce HiroshimaNew Zealand Auckland City
2 Brazil PaulinhoChina Guangzhou EvergrandeMexico América
3 Japan Kazuyuki MorisakiJapan Sanfrecce HiroshimaDemocratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe
4 Paraguay Osvaldo MartínezMexico AméricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe
5 Argentina Lucas AlarioArgentina River PlateJapan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
6 Uruguay Luis SuárezSpain BarcelonaChina Guangzhou Evergrande
7 Japan Takuma AsanoJapan Sanfrecce HiroshimaChina Guangzhou Evergrande
8 Uruguay Luis Suárez (2)Spain BarcelonaArgentina River Plate

References

  1. ↑ "Alibaba E-Auto signs as Presenting Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Regulations – FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Japan set to host continental champions in 2015 and 2016". FIFA.com. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Blatter: A legacy for the future". FIFA.com. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Bidding process opened for eight FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "India may get to host FIFA Club World Cup". India.com. 15 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "High interest in hosting FIFA competitions". FIFA.com. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "India not bidding for 2015 and 2016 Fifa Club World Cups". The Times of India. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Football: More matches likely in Club Cup". New Zealand Herald. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Osaka to debut as a FIFA Club World Cup venue". FIFA.com. 22 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Referees and assistant referees selected". 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Referees & Assistant referees for FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Squad lists released for Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 – Squad Lists" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Tickets for the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Japan Reveals Official Emblem for FIFA Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "The draw LIVE on FIFA.com". 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Draw for Japan 2015 conducted in Zurich". FIFA.com. 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  19. ↑ "Match Schedule – FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  20. ↑ "Match report Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Auckland City FC 2:0 (1:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  21. ↑ "Match report Club América – Guangzhou Evergrande FC 1:2 (0:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 13 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "Match report TP Mazembe – Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0:3 (0:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 13 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Match report Club América – TP Mazembe 2:1 (2:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  24. ↑ "Match report Sanfrecce Hiroshima – River Plate 0:1 (0:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  25. ↑ "Match report FC Barcelona – Guangzhou Evergrande FC 3:0 (1:0)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  26. ↑ "Match report Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Guangzhou Evergrande FC 2:1 (0:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  27. ↑ "Match report River Plate – FC Barcelona 0:3 (0:1)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  28. ↑ "Barcelona trio sweep awards". FIFA.com. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  29. ↑ "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015: Technical report and statistics" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
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