Mamelodi Sundowns' chase for continental glory this year will come with the price of a trip to Saudi Arabia – the country where their former coach Pitso Mosimane now works.
This comes after the FIFA Council confirmed that the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup will be hosted by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation from December 12-22.
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It will be the 20th edition of the competition with Sundowns also set for rich pickings if they manage to go through.
The 2022 edition of the global club competition just ended in Morocco with Real Madrid walking away as champions for the fifth time.
The tournament was only staged this year due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup being played in November/December in Qatar instead of the tradition slot in June.
This year's tournament will be contested by seven clubs with Sundowns keen on the African which will come by virtue of winning the CAF Champions League.
Sundowns have started their CAF Champions' League group stages campaign as favourites to lift the trophy for the second time after their success in 2016.
The Brazilians are expected to finish amongst the top two in their group which has Al Hilal, Al Ahly and CotonSport and proceed to the quarterfinals in April, semi-finals in May, and the two-legged final in June.
Besides the financials showing that Sundowns have spent the most money of all clubs on the continent in the last year – according to FIFA's annual Global Transfer Report 2022 – they are also delivering on the field.
Through the last year Sundowns spent over R100 million in bringing in Marcelo Allende, Ronwen Williams, Sipho Mbule, Terrence Mashego, Abdelmounaim Boutouil, Erwin Saavedra, Teboho Mokoena, Surprise Ralani, and Abubeker Ahmed Nasir.
These signings have put the pressure on Sundowns to perform and they have delivered with their form of 13 wins in a row in all competitions the best on the continent this season.
None of the other teams in the Champions League this year are anywhere near that kind of form be it Petro de Luanda, Wydad Casablanca, AS Vita, Al Ahly, Raja Casablanca, Esperance, or Zamalek.
Sundowns have previously been at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2016 after winning the CAF Champions League the same year.
FIFA has also confirmed that the Club World Cup will be expanded to 32 teams in June-July 2025 with CAF allocated four slots.
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