The Asian Football Federation (AFC) announced that Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal will represent the continent in the upcoming edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The 2022 FIFA Club World Cup will take place in Morocco between 1-11 February; three months before the winner of the 2022 AFC Champions League is announced.
The final of the Asian tournament will be played on the 29th of April for the first leg, and the 6th of May for the second leg.
Therefore, the AFC decided to nominate Saudi giants Al Hilal to represent Asia, as the current AFC Champions League title holders.
“In view of the possibility that the AFC Champions League 2022 would only be completed after the FIFA Club World Cup 2022, the Competitions Committee agreed to nominate Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal SFC, the reigning Asian club champions as the AFC’s representative for the upcoming edition of the world club showpiece,” the AFC said in a statement.
Al Hilal will be featuring for the second successive time in the FIFA Club World Cup, as they finished fourth in 2021’s edition after losing to Al Ahly 4-0 in the third-place playoff.
It is noteworthy that Al Ahly confirmed their participation in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup taking the hosts’ spot as Wydad Casablanca will be representing Africa as the CAF Champions League winners.
READ: Al Ahly to take part in 2022 FIFA Club World Cup
Besides Al Ahly, Al Hilal, and Wydad, the 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup will witness the participation of Spain’s Real Madrid, Brazil’s Flamengo, USA’s Seatle Sounders, and New Zealand’s Aukland City.
