Arsenal MUST win the Champions League to clinch UEFA’s final Club World Cup spot… with European minnows vying to take their place and join Man City, Chelsea and Real Madrid in a revamped competition .

Arsenal must win the Champions League if they are to secure the last remaining place in next year’s expanded Club World Cup, with a European minnow in line to take the place otherwise.

Following their 2-2 draw at the Emirates last week, Mikel Arteta’s men must beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening. reach the semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in 15 years.

But Arsenal must go all the way and win European football’s greatest trophy for the first time in their history if they are to qualify for the Club World Cup.

The revamped version of the tournament will feature 32 teams, 12 of which will represent UEFA and six from CONMEBOL, its South American counterpart.

The AFC, CAF and CONCACAF will be represented by four clubs each, with OFC and the host association allocated one place each.

The Gunners will face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday evening.

Harry Kane (right) scored as the Bundesliga giants earned a 2-2 draw at the Emirates

The winners of each confederation’s main club competitions between 2021 and 2024 all qualify for the tournament, with the remaining teams to be determined by club rankings over a four-year period.

Concretely, this means that 11 of the 12 UEFA places are already occupied.

Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City qualified thanks to winning the Champions League in the last three seasons.

Meanwhile, eight other clubs – Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Atletico Madrid – qualified based on the four-year UEFA rankings.

The last remaining spot up for grabs is reserved for this season’s Champions League winners, and that’s where the process gets complicated.

Of the six teams remaining in the competition, Arsenal are the only club that does not meet UEFA’s four-year ranking criteria to qualify for the Club World Cup.

The only chance for the Gunners to participate in the tournament is to win the Champions League for the first time.

If Arsenal fail to win the trophy at Wembley next month, the remaining place will go to Red Bull Salzburg.

Manchester City qualified for the Club World Cup after winning the Champions League last season

Chelsea will also participate in the tournament after winning the Champions League in 2021

The Austrians sit 18th in the four-year UEFA coefficient table, but are the highest-ranked club eligible to participate in the tournament.

Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, ​​Napoli, Sevilla and AC Milan are all higher ranked than Salzburg, but the Club World Cup is limited to a maximum of two teams per league.

The two places for the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga are already occupied.

The caveat does not apply to Champions League winners, however, meaning the Premier League could have three representatives if Arsenal triumph this season.

Salzburg have never won a European trophy, going only as far as losing the 1994 UEFA Cup final to Inter Milan when they were still known as Austria Salzburg.

Salzburg had to wait 61 years to win its first league title in 1994 before adding two more over the next three years, but it has become the dominant force in Austrian football since its takeover by Red Bull in 2006.

If Arsenal fail to win the Champions League, the remaining UEFA Club World Cup spot will go to RB Salzburg.

RB Salzburg have won the last 10 consecutive Austrian Bundesliga titles

RB Salzburg have won the Austrian Bundesliga in 14 of the last 18 seasons, finishing second on four occasions and are currently trying to win their 11th consecutive title.

RB have reached the Champions League group stage for the past four seasons and reached the round of 16 for the first time in 2022 when they were beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Bayern.

This season, they come in last position in Group D, four points behind Real Sociedad, Inter Milan and Benfica.