Reforms & new competitions: what will change in soccer in 2024

Champions League to Club World Cup - Reforms & new competitions: what will change in soccer in 2024

More matches, new competitions and the end of some familiar formats: Soccer fans will have to get used to numerous changes in the new year. The reform of the Champions League in particular will bring innovations, but there will also be some changes for the national team.

The Club World Cup will be completely modified: the Intercontinental Cup will be played from 2024, and a tournament with 32 club teams will be held for the first time in the summer of 2025. There will also be new competitions for female footballers.

This also raises concerns about the increasing strain on players. "Of course, you have to be careful not to start overloading them now," warned national women's coach Horst Hrubesch. The World Leagues Forum (WLF), a global association of more than 40 professional soccer leagues, and the trade union Fifpro have already warned of "serious consequences" with regard to players' health.

There will also be a number of changes to soccer in 2024 beyond the new competitions and formats: the German Football League is set to see the arrival of an investor, and the top German referees are preparing to explain the decisions of the video evidence in the stadium in future. There are also various test phases - such as the introduction of time penalties and the offside rule. An overview of all the changes in 2024:

Champions League reform:

From the 2024/25 season, the competition will be played in a new mode, with the previously familiar group stage being abolished. The premier league will become a kind of league with 36 clubs, all of which will be in the same table. This also applies to the Europa League and the Conference League. All teams will initially play four home and four away matches against eight different opponents, which will be determined with the help of draw pots. The top eight teams go straight through to the round of 16, with the next 16 teams playing for the remaining eight places in an additional knockout round. From the round of 16, the Champions League will then run in its usual format until the final in Munich in 2025.

Nations League:

There will also be changes for national coach Julian Nagelsmann and his team in 2024. After Euro 2024, the Nations League will have a new quarter-final format with first and second legs for the winners and runners-up of the top division. A relegation play-off is also new. However, the number of matches is not set to increase, as in future there will be groups of four and five teams in qualifying for the World Cup and European Championships instead of the current five and six.

Club World Cup:

The format of the Club World Cup will also change next season. The new Intercontinental Cup will be played for the first time in December 2024. The Champions League winner from Europe will then face the winner of a qualifying tournament involving the other continental champions. The new Club World Cup will take place for the first time in 2025 with 32 teams and a total of 63 matches in the USA. FC Bayern will certainly be there, while Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig are battling it out for the second German ticket in the current Champions League season.

DFL investor:

With regard to the Bundesliga, fans must also prepare themselves for changes. The entry of an investor into the German Football League is to be finalized by the end of March. After the 36 professional clubs voted in favor of the deal, the DFL is negotiating with several interested parties. The contract should have a maximum term of 20 years and be signed by the start of the 2024/25 season.

Women's soccer:

Things are also changing for women's soccer. Although the new Champions League with 18 teams instead of the previous 16 and the second European Cup competition with 64 teams will not be introduced until the 2025/26 season, the coming season will be decisive in terms of qualification. In future, the Bundesliga champions and runners-up could qualify directly for the top flight, provided the league finishes at least second in the UEFA five-year rankings - as is currently the case. Teams can also buy their ticket for the new competition via the league.

Referees:

There will be no fixed changes for the top German referees in 2024 for the time being, although various test phases are underway. For example, referees are being prepared to briefly explain video evidence decisions to fans in the stadium in future. To this end, the International Football Association Board (Ifab) is conducting a one-year test phase. The same applies to the introduction of time penalties in the professional game and a possible change to the offside rule, which the world governing body FIFA is currently testing.