Club World Cup 2015 was the 12th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organized international club football tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations, as well as the host nation’s league champions. The tournament was hosted by Japan between 10 and 20 December 2015.
Real Madrid, the defending champions, did not qualify for the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup after being eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. The winners of that competition, Barcelona, went on to claim a record third FIFA Club World Cup title. Barcelona defeated Guangzhou Evergrande 3–0 in the semi-finals and then secured a 3–0 victory over River Plate in the final.
Champions Runners- Up Third Place Fourth Place FIFA Fair Play Award
Barcelona (3rd title) River Plate Sanfrecce Hiroshima Guangzhou Evergrande Barcelona
Club World Cup 2015 awards
Award Player Team
Adidas Golden Ball
Alibaba Cloud Award Luis Suárez Barcelona
Adidas Silver Ball Lionel Messi Barcelona
Adidas Bronze Ball Andrés Iniesta Barcelona
Club World Cup 2015 Qualified Teams
Team Confederation Achivement Qualification
River Plate CONMEBOL Winners of the 2015 Copa Libertadores Entering in the semi-final
Barcelona UEFA Winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League Entering in the semi-final
Guangzhou Evergrande AFC Winners of the 2015 AFC Champions League Entering in the quarter-final
TP Mazembe CAF Winners of the 2015 CAF Champions League Entering in the quarter-final
Club América CONCACAF Winners of the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League Entering in the quarter-final
Auckland City OFC Winners of the 2014–15 OFC Champions League Entering in the play-off for quarter-final
Sanfrecce Hiroshima AFC (host) Winners of the 2015 J1 League Entering in the play-off for quarter-final
Play-off for quarter-final
10 December 2015 19:45, JST (UTC+9) | International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2–0 | Auckland City |
Minagawa 9′ Shiotani 70′ |
Quarter final matches
13 December 2015 16:00, JST (UTC+9) | Nagai Stadium, Osaka
Club América | 1–2 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
Peralta 55′ | Zheng Long 80′ Paulinho 90+3′ |
13 December 2015 19:30, JST (UTC+9) | Nagai Stadium, Osaka
TP Mazembe | 0–3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
Shiotani 44′ Chiba 56′ Asano 78′ |
Fifth place match
16 December 2015 16:30, JST (UTC+9) | Nagai Stadium, Osaka
Club América | 2–1 | TP Mazembe |
Benedetto 19′ Zúñiga 28′ |
Kalaba 43′ |
Club World Cup 2015 semi finals
16 December 2015 19:30, JST (UTC+9) | Nagai Stadium, Osaka
Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 0–1 | River Plate |
Kalaba 43′ |
17 December 2015 19:30, JST (UTC+9) | International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Barcelona | 3–0 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
Suárez 39′, 50′, 67′ (pen.) |
Third place match
20 December 2015 16:00, JST (UTC+9) | International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2–1 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
Douglas 70′, 83′ | Paulinho 4′ |
Club World Cup 2015 final match
20 December 2015 19:30, JST (UTC+9) | International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
River Plate | 0–3 | Barcelona |
Messi 36′ Suárez 49′, 68′ |
Club World Cup 2015 top goal scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Luis Suárez Barcelona 5
2 Paulinho Guangzhou Evergrande 2
3 Douglas Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2
4 Tsukasa Shiotani Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2
5 Darío Benedetto Club América 1
Format change proposed
A proposed change to the FIFA Club World Cup, driven by the Oceania Football Confederation, suggested a new format that would eliminate the knockout rounds for the quarter-finals and play-off stage. In this format, two round-robin groups of three teams would be formed, including two teams from the host nation and the champions of AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, and OFC. The group winners would then advance to the semi-finals to face the champions of CONMEBOL and UEFA. This structure would ensure that all teams play at least two matches, addressing the issue where the loser of the play-off round only plays one match. However, this proposal was not implemented.