The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 6 to 16 December 2012.[1] It was the ninth edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations as well as the host nation's league champions. The tournament was hosted by Japan.[2][3]
Defending champions Barcelona did not qualify as they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League by eventual champions Chelsea.
Corinthians won the title for the second time (also becoming the last South American and non-European team to win the tournament), winning 1–0 in the semi-finals against Al Ahly before beating Chelsea by the same margin in the final.[4][5]
The FIFA Executive Committee appointed Japan as hosts for the 2011 and 2012 tournaments on 27 May 2008 during their meeting in Sydney, Australia.[2][3]
The appointed referees are:[6]
Each team submitted a squad of 23 players, three of them goalkeepers.[7] The squads were announced on 29 November 2012.[8]
The venues for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup were Yokohama and Toyota.[1]
The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup was the first FIFA tournament to use goal-line technology following its approval by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in July 2012.[9] The two systems approved by FIFA, GoalRef (installed in Yokohama) and Hawk-Eye (installed in Toyota), were used in the two stadiums.[10]
The draw for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup was held at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, on 24 September 2012 at 11:30 CEST (UTC+02:00).[11] The draw decided the "positions" in the bracket for the three representatives which entered the quarter-finals (AFC/CAF/CONCACAF).[12]
If a match was tied after normal playing time:[13]
All times Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
A minute's silence was held before the match to commemorate Dutch linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen, who had died following a violent incident at a youth competition four days before the match.[14]
1 own goal
Dárvin Chávez (Monterrey, against Chelsea)
Hiroki Mizumoto (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, against Ulsan Hyundai)The following awards were given for the tournament.[15]
Another major decision taken by the Executive Committee was to award the organisation of the 2009 and 2010 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the following two events, in 2011 and 2012, to Japan, where it has been played since 2005 and will be again in December this year.
Japan were given some consolation for their loss when they awarded the tournament in 2011 and 2012 while Australia, which had been hoping to use the event to boost their chances of staging the World Cup in 2018, were overlooked altogether.
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