Since Chelsea booked their place in the inaugural edition of this summer’s Club World Cup by winning the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, there has been plenty of change at the west London outfit.

The Blues have cycled through six different head coaches, spent £1.2bn on transfers and finished 12th in the Premier League.

Nevertheless, Chelsea will be one of 32 teams involved in this week’s draw to decide the eight groups of four for the global jamboree in Miami. Based upon FIFA’s convoluted – and entirely arbitrary – seeding system, Enzo Maresca’s side are in Pot 2, leaving themselves open to a daunting slate of potential opponents.

No group can feature two clubs from the same association, so Chelsea would never be able to come up against Pot 1’s Manchester City. However, FIFA have split the European and South American top seeds to keep the big names apart until the semi-final.

That finger on the scale ensures that Chelsea can only come up against three Brazilian Copa Libertadores champions or Argentine giants River Plate, the highest-ranked South American club which haven’t won a continental title in the last four years.

While Flamengo and Fluminense have their qualities, the prospect of a clash with Palmeiras is particularly enticing. The Brazilian giants are spearheaded by the record-breaking talents of Estevao Willian – the 17-year-old forward who will join Chelsea after the competition’s conclusion in July 2025.

Freshly crowned Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo find themselves skulking around lowly Pot 3. Chelsea can only be drawn in the same group as the in-form outfit if they pull Argentine side River Plate from Pot 1, as the other three options are also from Brazil.

Alternatively, the Blues could be lumbered with a difficult clash against Al Hilal. The reigning Saudi champions scored more than 100 goals and dropped just six points in 34 games en route to last season’s league title. Whether Neymar will be fit for this summer’s competition is in the lap of the fates, but the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ruben Neves will ensure that Al Hilal are a tricky opponent for any club.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami – as they are contractually known – are the standout member of Pot 4. They may have fudged their way into the competition as the host nation’s representative, but Javier Mascherano’s new side did finish with the best record across the entire regular 2024 MLS season.

The most recent continental champions of North and Central America (Pachuca) as well as Asia (Al Ain) also fill out an eclectic selection of Pot 4 clubs, which also includes clubs scattered from South Korea to South Africa.