Chelsea F.C. are excited to be participating in the revamped FIFA Club World Cup™ according to John Terry, with the Blues ambassador and former England captain saying the tournament will provide benefits to European clubs, players and fans.

Held in the United States between 14 June and 13 July 2025, FIFA’s new premier club competition heralds a new era for the game with the greatest, most inclusive and merit-based global club competition in history.

The new format will see Chelsea compete for the title of world champions as one of the 32 best club teams around the globe, and it’s an accolade Terry says every club will be desperate to win.

“I’m excited for Chelsea F.C. to be there and be part of it,” Terry said during August's FIFAe Next Gen™ event in Liverpool. “As a football club, we’re delighted to be there. We’re going bring our best players, our best squad, and give it our best opportunity, because that’s what the fans want to see.

“Winning your league or the UEFA Champions League is great, but the FIFA Club World Cup is the big test against everybody in the world from different countries, different nationalities and different players as well.

“I would’ve loved to have won it and added that to my collection. Unfortunately, I’m a little bit older now – I’ve missed out, but it’s still great to see so many top teams competing.”

Terry had a rich club career winning 17 domestic and continental titles with the London club over 19 years, becoming one of the most well-known footballers in the world. In fact, his club career was so successful he only missed out on two possible trophies that were available to English footballers at the time: the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Terry was a key part of the Chelsea squad that qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup 2012™ but was unavailable for the tournament after sustaining knee ligament damage – a missed opportunity that the former central defender regrets to this day.

“I missed out as a player through injury, and I remember seeing it at the Chelsea training ground on the massage bed. It’s one of those moments I’ll never forget, thinking ‘this is probably my only chance,’ and it was. That still haunts me at the back of my mind.

“You get one chance at these big competitions, two if you’re lucky – if you’re Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi you get to do it a lot of times – but for the normal player, these don’t come about very often, and I think it’s important to take these opportunities.”

Chelsea qualified for the new-look FIFA Club World Cup as winners of the UEFA Champions League 2020/21, with the 2025 edition being the third time the Blues have competed in the tournament, and first under the new, expanded format.

Runners-up in 2012 following a 1-0 defeat to Corinthians in the final, Chelsea made amends when they beat Palmeiras 2-1 (after extra time) to claim the title of world champions in 2021. Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz were on the scoresheet that day.

Despite missing the 2012 tournament, Terry was in attendance as a FIFA and Chelsea ambassador in 2021 and witnessed first-hand how much the trophy meant to the players involved.

“As a player I’ve been asked a couple of times ‘Do you really care about the FIFA Club World Cup?’. Absolutely you do, and as a football club we’re going to be prepared to go there and be looking to win it.

“There are some really top sides there and from a player’s perspective, 100%, this matters. So again, [we are] super excited to be part of it and for Chelsea it’s an opportunity to win another trophy.”

As well as the prestige of the tournament and the chance to be crowned world champions, Terry said the tournament is the perfect platform for players to test themselves against different styles and opponents: something that coaches and fans will also appreciate.

“You’re going to see different teams playing different formations. The tournament will be a different test against different managers and different parts of the world that see the game differently.

“It’s really good to test yourself because you can get kind of mundane in that the Premier League you know what you’re coming up against, you do your research, you know the players like the back of your hand. This is a tournament where you go in and it’s a little bit of an open book. So, it’s exciting for everyone to watch these games as well.”