FIFA Club World Cup 2015 Champions, matches and achievements

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.