The winners of that competition, Manchester United, won the Club World Cup for the first time, beating Gamba Osaka 5–3 in the semi-finals before a 1–0 win over LDU Quito in the final at the International Stadium in Yokohama on 21 December.

It was United's second world title, following the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, which was also held in Japan.

The fifth-place match, dropped for the 2007 tournament, was reintroduced for 2008, with the total prize money being increased by US$500,000 to US$16.5 million.

[2] This was approved by the executive committee on 29 October 2007 during their meeting in Zürich, Switzerland.

[3] Notes Tokyo, Yokohama and Toyota were the three cities to serve as venues for the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.