After winning the inaugural African Football League, Mamelodi Sundowns have a dangled carrot of over ten times more than the AFL prize for qualifying for an extended FIFA Club World Cup.
FIFA will organize the first 32-team Club World Cup tournament in 2025 in the United States, with Africa allocated four teams, Asia also having four representatives, Europe 12 teams, North and Central America, Caribbean four teams, South America six representatives and Oceania only one team.
The tournament will run for a month, from 15 June to 13 July beginning with a group stage format and with the knockout rounds following, similar to the national team men and women's World Cup, although there will not be a third/fourth place play-off.
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In Europe, teams such as Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City have already gained entry to the tournament for winning the UEFA Champions League from the 2020/21 season while the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto and Benfica have also been confirmed to compete at the tournament after they qualified through a ranking pathway.
In Africa, Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca have qualified for the tournament, which will be hosted every four years, after winning the 2020/21 and 2021/22 CAF Champions League titles respectively.
A team that will win the CAF Champions League in the current season will qualify as the third team through the champions route. The fourth team from Africa will qualify through a ranking process to be determined by FIFA.
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According to reports, the world football governing body uses a ranking system of the Champions League results in the last four years to qualify for the Club World Cup and with Al Ahly and Wydad already through, Sundowns stand a better chance of also qualifying through a ranking route, if they don't win the CAF Champions League title.
Reports also indicate that the total prize money for the tournament is approximately €2,5 billion, with each club set to get €50 million for participating and the prize will increase based on results in the competition.
That would mean if the Brazilians qualify, they could be guaranteed just over R1 billion (€50 million converted to rands) for participating, which could increase with results-oriented bonuses.