How many teams are in a soccer tournament? Major football tournaments in the world are the focus of sports fans. The big tournaments will be the convergence of strong teams and top football superstars. From there, create dramatic, top-notch matches.
In the following article, let’s find out some information about the number of teams in the top 15 football tournaments with Cambridge University Press Football Club Fans, so as not to miss the most exciting matches!
How many teams are in a soccer tournament?
Here are the statistics of the number of teams in the 15 biggest football seasons. Besides that, some important information about that season:
15. Italian Cup
The Lega Serie A has organized the Coppa Italia, an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football that the FIGC formerly ran.
Only 44 clubs will compete in the Coppa Italia under its new format for the 2021–22 season: 20 teams each from Serie A and Serie B, followed by the top four teams from Serie C.So a total of 44 teams participate each season.
Except for the semifinals, which consist of one leg played at each club’s facility, each leg is a single knockout. The Stadio Olimpico in Rome is always the site of the final.
In the 2022–23 season, Inter defeated Juventus and became the champion. According to the Italian FA, the prize money for the 2022 Coppa Italia and 2022 winners will get approximately €1.3 million. The second-place team, often known as the Coppa Italia Prize Money runners-up, receives €400,000 in cash.
14. Kings Cup
The King Cup, officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Cup, is Saudi Arabia’s football knockout tournament, run by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. In each season, 16 teams participate.
In the 2022-23 season held from September 22 to 25, 2022, Al-Fayha was the champion with a prize pool of 5,500,000 Saudi Riyals. Meanwhile, the runner-up team receives a prize money of 4,000,000 Saudi Riyals. The upcoming, King Cup 2023 will be held in Las Vegas on January 14, 2023 – January 16, 2023.
13. AFC Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup serves as the primary association football competition in which the senior men’s national teams of the AFC’s members compete to crown a continental champion.
The 2019 tournament’s field was increased from 16 to 24 nations, while the qualification process was doubled to include the FIFA World Cup qualifying for 2018. Qatar is the current winner and has received the greatest prize money ever, totaling around 15 million USD.
Since 2019, each club has played three games in a group of four, with the top two teams from each group, along with the four best third-place teams, moving on to the knockout stage. The knockout stage consists of a single-elimination tournament between the sixteen teams, starting with the round of 16, and concluding with the championship game.
After 1988 and 2011, Qatar will become the first nation to host three Asian Cups. The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup will most likely be moved from mid-2023 to late 2023 as a result of the hot summer temperatures in the Gulf region and Qatar’s participation in the competition.
12. Copa del Rey
The Royal Spanish Football Federation hosts the annual knockout football event known as the Copa del Rey. The 2022–23 season will feature 126 teams, with Real Betis emerging victorious. There are 8 rounds in this season that clubs must get through.
The Spanish FA has stated that the 2023 Copa Del Rey champions would receive about €1 million in prize money. The second-place team, often known as the Copa Del Rey Prize Money runners-up, receives €600,000.
11. Confederations Cup
FIFA organizes the Confederations Cup, an international football competition for men’s national teams, every four years.
In order to avoid placing two teams from the same federation in the same group, the eight qualified teams were split into two round-robin tournament groups. For three games, each team plays every other team in their group once. Germany has $1.25 million and is the current tournament champion.
An extension of the FIFA Club World Cup and the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, which serves as a precursor to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will take the tournament’s place, FIFA said in March 2019.
10. FIFA Club World Cup
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world’s governing body of football, hosts the FIFA Club World Cup, an international men’s association football championship.
FIFA announced an enlarged tournament with 32 teams that would begin in June 2025 on 16 December 2022. Each group’s top two finishers moved on to the elimination rounds. After that, there was a round of 16, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and the championship match.
The current winners are Chelsea, who won their first championship after defeating Palmeiras 2-1 in the 2021 championship game after extra time. They received $42 million.
9. Africa Cup of Nations
The primary international men’s association football tournament in Africa is known as the Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON. The Confederation of African Football has approved it (CAF). The Africa Cup of Nations was expanded from 16 to 24 teams on July 20, 2017, moving it from January to June. Six groups of four nations were formed from the 24 teams. After the round of 16, there was a knockout format featuring a semifinal, final, and round of 16.
Senegal currently holds the title after defeating Egypt on penalties in the 2021 championship match. The monetary prizes for the 2022 Afcon were increased by a total of $1.85 million.
Due to weather concerns, the 2023 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations has been postponed until 2024. The Ivory Coast-hosted competition will now be held in January and February 2024 rather than its originally scheduled dates of June and July 2023.
8. FA Cup
An annual knockout football tournament for men’s domestic English football is called the Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup run by The Football Association.
There are 124 teams competing in the elimination round of the FA Cup. Liverpool currently has the trophy after defeating Chelsea in the 2022 championship match. This season’s FA Cup has a total prize pool of more than £19 million available. The 12 rounds of the competition are picked at random, and then the semifinals and championship rounds are played. On June 3, 2023, Wembley Stadium will host the FA Cup final.
7. UEFA Europa League
Since 1971, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has organized the UEFA Europa League, originally known as the UEFA Cup, which is an annual club football competition for clubs. qualified for European football.
There were 24 teams competing in UEFA last year. There are 5 rounds in the UEFA Europa League knockout round: Round 32, Round 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final. In the 2022 championship match, Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers 5-4 on penalties to become the new champion. Each group champion brought in €1,100,000, while each runner-up brought home €550,000.
The UEFA Europa League 2022–23 championship match will take place on May 31, 2023, at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna.
6. Copa Libertadores
Since 1960, CONMEBOL has hosted the annual CONMEBOL Libertadores, commonly known as the Copa Libertadores de América, an international club football competition.
The 32 teams are divided into eight groups (Group A–H), four teams each. There are 5 rounds in this tournament, and the current winner of the competition is Flamengo. The winning team of the Copa Libertadores will receive 12 million USD, the losing team will receive 6 million USD.
The 2023 Copa Libertadores champions will have the opportunity to compete with the 2023 Copa Sudamericana champions at Recopa Sudamericana 2024. In addition, they will automatically be admitted to the Copa Libertadores 2024 group stage.
5. Olympic Games
More than 200 teams compete in the Olympic Games, which are regarded as the world’s sporting event. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympics have rotated every two years during a four-year span.
Men’s football at Tokyo 2020 included 16 different countries, while women’s soccer had 12 different nations. In both the men’s and women’s competitions, there were groups of four teams each, and eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Brazil won the men’s football competition for a second consecutive gold medal, while Canada took first place in the women’s division. For winning the gold, each member of the football team will receive $100,000.
The 2024 Summer Olympics will be held in Paris, and the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo.
4. Copa America
The Copa América, which is run by CONMEBOL, is the premier men’s football competition between South American nations.
Ten CONMEBOL teams from South America and two AFC teams made up the 2020 Copa America.
Each group competes in a round-robin event, where each team is required to play three times against other groups. Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 in the championship match to claim the title. The winning team will receive $4 million, the defeated finalists will receive $3 million, and the third- and fourth-placed teams will receive $2 million and $1 million, respectively.
According to Fox Sports MX, the United States will host the 2024 Copa América following a CONMEBOL invitation.
3. UEFA European Championship
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) hosts the main association football competition known as the UEFA European Football Championship, often known as the European Championship and the Euro.
24 teams competed in the last season. Italy won the most recent competition, which was contested in 2021 across Europe.
The event, which is slated to take place from June 14 to July 14, 2024, will be hosted by Germany.
2. UEFA Champions League
The Union of European Football Associations hosts the annual club football competition known as the UEFA Champions League (UEFA). The 32 teams compete against one another twice in round-robin fashion.
Real Madrid is the current champion after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the 2022 championship match to win a record-setting fourteenth championship. The victor of the 2022–23 Champions League, including anyone who completes an undefeated group stage run, will get €85.14 million.
1. FIFA World Cup
The senior men’s national teams of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) members compete in the World Cup, sometimes known as FIFA World Cup or just the World Cup (FIFA). In the last season, 32 teams participated and it is expected to increase to 48 in 2026.
Eight groups were created out of the 32 teams. Each group’s top two finishers moved on to the elimination rounds. Following the round of 16, the competition proceeded to the semifinals, final, and a round of 16.
For the first time in 36 years and the third time overall, Argentina overcame two-time winners France 4-2 on penalties in the FIFA World Cup 2022 final tournament. Argentina received a significant payoff of 42 million US dollars for winning the 2022 World Cup, which awards prizes based on performance.
The USA, Canada, and Mexico, the three countries hosting the 2026 World Cup, will split up the games, with some group-stage matches being held in one country to cut down on travel.
Conclusion
Above is information about the number of teams participating in the world’s major football tournaments that the Cup FC has summarized and shared with readers. Now, you can answer the question: How many teams are in a soccer tournament? We hope that our sharing has helped you gain more useful information about the sport of kings. Update the latest news on Cup FC so you don’t miss the hottest football matches!
