AIFA Club Nations Cup

AIFA Club Nations Cup

Organising body	AIFA
Founded	2000 (2000)
Region	International
Number of teams	32 (from 5 confederations)
Related competitions	AIFA Champions League
Current champions	Arveladze Armada (1st title)
Television broadcasters	List of broadcasters
2025 AIFA Club Nations Cup

The AIFA Club Nations Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the Astyrian International Football Association (AIFA), the sport's governing body in Astyria. The competition was first contested in 2000, after AIFA decided to promote further competition at the sport's highest levels above that of the Champions League. With it being a relatively new tournament, the prestige of the competition is still growing. Some critics argue that the format of the competition creates something of a financial crutch for teams who may have been at their prime when they won a continental competition or Champions League title, but are now struggling domestically or internationally and have no real place in the competition any longer.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams in a world-cup style format competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The teams consist of the previous five winners of the LFC Champions Cup (Lorecia), TFC Champions Trophy (Teudallum), HFC Imperial League (Hesperidesia), IFC Prestige Cup (Ixalia), and SFC Continental Challenge Cup (Sythith), as well as the previous six winners of the Champions League as the Champions League finishes before the Club Nations Cup, and between each competition there are six calendar winners. The final slot is given to the host nation's most recent domestic league Champions; if that team is already berthed through an international competition, the slot will move down the league standings until it reaches the next eligible club.

List of previous champions

Club Nations Cup

Year	Champion	Runner up	Host
2000	Example	Example	Host
2005	Example	Example	Host
2010	Example	Example	Host
2015	Example	Example	Host
2020	Arveladze Armada	North Rhise FC	Great Nortend
2025	Example	Example	Host

Format and rules

For the entirety of the tournament, most teams qualify to the AIFA Club Nations Cup by winning their continental competitions, be it the LFC Champions Cup, TFC Champions Trophy, HFC Imperial League, SFC Continental Challenge Cup, or the IFC Prestige Cup. Additionally, thee winners of the past five AIFA Champions League competitions are automatically entered into the competition. The final two slots are awarded to two teams from the host nation; the first slot being awarded to the current champions of the host nations domestic league, and the second slot being awarded to the winner of the host nations highest-level domestic cup competition.

If the current champions are already entered into the Cup Nations Cup through a continental slot or Champions League championship, the berth will move down the league table to the next eligible club. Likewise, if the most recent winner of the host nations' highest level domestic cup is already a competition particpant, the slot will move to the domestic cup runners-up. If the runners up are also already berthed, the slot will move back to the previous years winner and runners up until the next eligible club is selected. Additionally, one club cannot hold more than one berth from the Champions League or a continental competition. If a club has won both their continental cup and the AIFA Champions League, their berth will default to the one given as a Champions League winner, and the continental cup berth will move to the runners-up of that years competition.

The competition itself is a world-cup style tournament with 32 teams total. Each team, based on their berth, are entered into seeded pots where 6 groups of 4 teams will be selected. Each team will play each opponent once in the group stage, with the best two performing teams moving on to the round of 16 single-elimination knockout phase. In the event of a tie in the knockout stage, extra time will be awarded in the form of two 15-minute halves. If the score is still tied, the match will be decided via penalty kicks.

Awards

At the end of each Club Nations Cup, awards are presented to the players and teams fora ccomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament. There are currently two awards:

• The Golden Ball for the best player, determined by a vote of AIFA representatives. This award is typically always given to the player who scores the most goals throughout the competition.
• The Player of the Match for the best performing player in each tournament match.

Prize money (USD)

Winners	$7 million
Runners-up	$6 million
Third place	$5.5 million
Fourth place	$5 million
Quarter-finalists	$4.5 million
Round of 16	$3 million
Group stage	$1 million

Prize money

Currently, the Club Nations Cup provides a total of $81.5 million NSD in prize money for the participants. The prize money received by clubs is divided into fixed monthly payments based on participation and results. Each qualifying team that did not proceed out of the group stage were paid $1 million NSD, while Ro16 participants were awarded no less than $3 million NSD. Quarterfinalists were awarded $4.5 million NSD, with the fourth, third, second and first place winners being awarded specific amounts for those final positions.

Sponsorship

Like the AIFA Cup of Nations, the Club Nations Cup is sponsored by a group of multinational corporations. Astyria Corporation is the current Presenting Partner of the Club Nations Cup.

There are currently seven major event sponsors: Freyport Armory, Pratt & Ronn Oil, Griffincrest Oil Incorporated, Eagle Star Brewing, Cadenza Financial, Blueworld, and Maksimov.

Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Club Nations Cup. However, only one main sponsor is permitted per jersey in addition to that of the kit manufacturer.