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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Jamie Jackson in Miami

Club World Cup is key for Guardiola as he plots Manchester City revival

Pep Guardiola presides over training
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will play seven matches at the Club World Cup, should they make the final on 13 July. Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters

Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, 18 June, noon local time (5pm BST): when Manchester City wander out for their opening Fifa Club World Cup Group G game against Wydad AC, the 2025-26 campaign begins for Pep Guardiola.

The Premier League’s opening day may be 16 August but if the Club World Cup exists in a no man’s land of post-season, close season or pre-pre-season, for the Catalan the inaugural 32-team tournament fires the starting pistol on next season, an attempt to fix the wrongs of 2024-25, and a push to re-establish City as a relentless force. As he says: “I’m pretty sure next season we’ll be better.”

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