Arsenal MUST win the Champions League to grab UEFA’s last Club World Cup spot… with European minnows in line to take their place and join Man City, Chelsea and Real Madrid in revamped competition

Arsenal must win the Champions League if they are to secure the last remaining place at next year’s expanded Club World Cup, with a European minnow otherwise lining up to take the spot.

After last week’s 2-2 draw at the Emirates, Mikel Arteta’s men must beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in fifteen years.

But Arsenal must do everything they can to lift European football’s biggest trophy for the first time in history if they want to qualify for the Club World Cup.

The revamped version of the tournament will consist of 32 teams, 12 of which represent UEFA and six from CONMEBOL, its South American counterpart.

The AFC, CAF and CONCACAF are each represented by four clubs, with the OFC and host association receiving one slot each.

The Gunners take on Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final

Harry Kane (right) scored as the Bundesliga giants secured a 2-2 draw at the Emirates

The winners of each confederation’s top club competition between 2021 and 2024 have all qualified for a tournament, with the remaining teams determined by a club ranking over a four-year period.

In practice, this means that eleven of the twelve UEFA places have already been filled.

Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City have qualified thanks to winning the Champions League in the past three seasons.

Meanwhile, a further eight clubs – Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Atletico Madrid – have qualified based on UEFA’s quadrennial rankings.

The last remaining spot up for grabs is reserved for the winners of this season’s Champions League, and that’s where the process gets complicated.

Of the six remaining teams in the competition, Arsenal are the only club not to meet UEFA’s four-year criteria to qualify for the Club World Cup.

The Gunners’ only chance to participate in the tournament is therefore to win the Champions League for the first time.

Should Arsenal fail to lift the trophy at Wembley next month, the remaining spot would go to Red Bull Salzburg.

Manchester City has qualified for the Club World Cup after winning the Champions League last season

Chelsea will also take part in the tournament after winning the Champions League in 2021

The Austrians are 18th in UEFA’s four-year coefficient table, but are the highest-ranked club eligible to participate in the tournament.

Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, ​​Napoli, Sevilla and AC Milan are all ranked higher than Salzburg, but the Club World Cup is limited to a maximum of two teams per competition.

Both slots for the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga have already been taken.

However, the caveat does not apply to Champions League winners, meaning the Premier League could have three representatives if Arsenal win this season.

Salzburg have never won a European trophy, going so far as to lose the UEFA Cup final to Inter Milan in 1994 when it was still known as Austria Salzburg.

Salzburg had to wait 61 years for their first league title in 1994 before adding two more over the next three years, but have become the dominant force in Austrian football since being taken over by Red Bull in 2006.

Should Arsenal fail to win the Champions League, the remaining UEFA Club World Cup spot will go to RB Salzburg

RB Salzburg has won the last ten titles in a row in the Austrian Bundesliga

RB Salzburg have won the Austrian Bundesliga in 14 of the past 18 seasons, finishing second the other four times and are currently bidding to win their 11th title in a row.

RB have reached the group stages of the Champions League for the past four seasons, reaching the Round of 16 for the first time in 2022 when they were beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Bayern.

This season they were bottom of Group D, four points behind Real Sociedad, Inter Milan and Benfica.