Firouzja’s unexplained withdrawal from FIDE World Cup 2025 puts his Candidates & World Championship dream in jeopardy

Ever since FIDE released the players’ list for the upcoming Chess World Cup 2025, set to take place in Goa from October 30 to November 27, the absence of two-time Candidates participant and French No. 1 Alireza Firouzja has become a major talking point.

The top three players in the world currently, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana, will also not be part of the World Cup, but they all have well-documented reasons. Carlsen has dissociated himself from the current World Championship cycle ever since he relinquished his title in 2022. Caruana has already qualified for the upcoming Candidates through the 2024 FIDE Circuit Ratings and therefore does not need to participate in this event. Nakamura is all but assured of his Candidates spot via the highest average rating method, and he has chosen alternative means to maintain his activity to qualify through this specific pathway.

However, Firouzja’s absence leaves a significant question mark over his future in this format. He finished with equal points to Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum in the qualifying event but ended up in third place due to inferior tiebreaks, which ultimately denied him entry to the Candidates 2026.

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While there are no clear reasons as to why Firouzja has not signed up for the event, it is safe to assume the World No. 8 must have declined the invitation, since he automatically qualified for the World Cup. With this withdrawal, his World Championship dreams appear to be as good as crushed, as nearly all avenues for qualification are now closed.

There were three Candidates spots reserved to be awarded through the World Cup. With three players already qualified for the prestigious World Championship challenger event, only two more paths remained for Firouzja to try his luck. However, as things have unfolded, Nakamura is almost guaranteed to be awarded one Candidates spot through the rating qualification, while the final method, the 2025 FIDE Circuit Ratings, is currently being dominated by Indian prodigy R. Praggnanandhaa, who is also virtually certain of qualification, meaning the doors for Candidates and then World Championship, at least for this cycle, is over for Firouzja.

The French media also seems equally perplexed by Firouzja’s decision. A French chess magazine based in Nice, Europe Échecs, commented on the matter, stating: “Logically, Alireza Firouzja should have been part of this list. Eighth in the world with an Elo of 2754, he was qualified for this event, the last chance for him to participate for the third time in a row in the Tournament of Candidates. How to explain this absence? The Frenchman had shown an excellent level of play at the Grand Swiss and could have hoped to finish on the podium of this World Cup. We have no evidence at the moment to understand this very surprising decision…”

There are still two more spots left in the 206-player field, but it remains to be seen what the Firouzja camp will decide to do at this stage.

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Full list of confirmed players for FIDE World Cup 2025

#	Name	FED	Rating	B-Year
1	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2785	2005
2	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2771	2003
3	Gukesh D	IND	2767	2006
4	So, Wesley	USA	2756	1993
5	Wei, Yi	CHN	2753	1999
6	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2751	2004
7	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2748	2004
8	Giri, Anish	NED	2746	1994
9	Aronian, Levon	USA	2744	1982
10	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	FID	2742	1990
11	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2741	1985
12	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2738	1990
13	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2733	2003
14	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2731	1995
15	Le, Quang Liem	VIE	2729	1991
16	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2722	2005
17	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2714	1994
18	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2712	1994
19	Rapport, Richard	HUN	2711	1996
20	Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	IND	2711	1999
21	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2704	1986
22	Liang, Awonder	USA	2698	2003
23	Nihal Sarin	IND	2693	2004
24	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2692	1999
25	Sevian, Samuel	USA	2692	2000
26	Maghsoodloo, Parham	IRI	2692	2000
27	Dubov, Daniil	FID	2691	1996
28	Esipenko, Andrey	FID	2687	2002
29	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2686	2000
30	Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	2684	1985
31	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	UZB	2681	2002
32	Robson, Ray	USA	2674	1994
33	Alekseenko, Kirill	AUT	2674	1997
34	Deac, Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2674	2001
35	Bluebaum, Matthias	GER	2671	1997
36	Shankland, Sam	USA	2670	1991
37	Murzin, Volodar	FID	2670	2006
38	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2669	1999
39	Vitiugov, Nikita	ENG	2666	1987
40	Leko, Peter	HUN	2666	1979
41	Artemiev, Vladislav	FID	2664	1998
42	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	POL	2661	1987
43	Oparin, Grigoriy	USA	2660	1997
44	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	CZE	2660	2001
45	Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian	NOR	2655	1998
46	Saric, Ivan	CRO	2655	1990
47	Navara, David	CZE	2653	1985
48	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2653	2002
49	Mamedov, Rauf	AZE	2651	1988
50	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2650	1995
51	Grandelius, Nils	SWE	2648	1993
52	Yuffa, Daniil	ESP	2648	1997
53	Kollars, Dmitrij	GER	2647	1999
54	Theodorou, Nikolas	GRE	2646	2000
55	Adams, Michael	ENG	2646	1971
56	Gledura, Benjamin	HUN	2646	1999
57	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2646	2011
58	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	UZB	2645	2002
59	Rodshtein, Maxim	ISR	2645	1989
60	Svane, Frederik	GER	2643	2004
61	Salem, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2640	1993
62	Xiong, Jeffery	USA	2640	2000
63	Martinez Alcantara, Jose Eduardo	MEX	2639	1999
64	Chigaev, Maksim	ESP	2638	1996
65	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2637	1983
66	Amin, Bassem	EGY	2636	1988
67	Gurel, Ediz	TUR	2631	2008
68	Tari, Aryan	NOR	2631	1999
69	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2630	2002
70	Hovhannisyan, Robert	ARM	2629	1991
71	Martirosyan, Haik M.	ARM	2628	2000
72	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	2627	1986
73	Sargissian, Gabriel	ARM	2626	1983
74	Anton Guijarro, David	ESP	2625	1995
75	Donchenko, Alexander	GER	2624	1998
76	Dardha, Daniel	BEL	2624	2005
77	Svane, Rasmus	GER	2620	1997
78	Najer, Evgeniy	FID	2613	1977
79	Pranesh M	IND	2611	2006
80	Mishra, Abhimanyu	USA	2611	2009
81	Lagarde, Maxime	FRA	2609	1994
82	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	UKR	2608	1969
83	Suleymanli, Aydin	AZE	2602	2005
84	Idani, Pouya	IRI	2599	1995
85	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2599	2002
86	Daneshvar, Bardiya	IRI	2598	2006
87	Cheng, Bobby	AUS	2596	1997
88	Meier, Georg	URU	2596	1987
89	Motylev, Alexander	ROU	2595	1979
90	Brkic, Ante	CRO	2594	1988
91	Cori, Jorge	PER	2594	1995
92	Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal	CHI	2594	1996
93	Narayanan S L	IND	2591	1998
94	Huschenbeth, Niclas	GER	2591	1992
95	Yilmaz, Mustafa	TUR	2591	1992
96	Warmerdam, Max	NED	2591	2000
97	Jobava, Baadur	GEO	2590	1983
98	Adly, Ahmed	EGY	2589	1987
99	Abasov, Nijat	AZE	2587	1995
100	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	FID	2586	2010
101	Nesterov, Arseniy	FID	2584	2003
102	Neiksans, Arturs	LAT	2584	1983
103	Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis	GRE	2583	1998
104	Bartel, Mateusz	POL	2581	1985
105	Bai, Jinshi	CHN	2578	1999
106	Lupulescu, Constantin	ROU	2578	1984
107	Tin, Jingyao	SGP	2577	2000
108	Kantor, Gergely	HUN	2576	1999
109	Ghosh, Diptayan	IND	2573	1998
110	Supi, Luis Paulo	BRA	2573	1996
111	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	IND	2573	1983
112	Karthik Venkataraman	IND	2571	1999
113	Fier, Alexandr	BRA	2569	1988
114	Petrov, Nikita	MNE	2569	1996
115	Piorun, Kacper	POL	2568	1991
116	Lodici, Lorenzo	ITA	2560	2000
117	Flores, Diego	ARG	2558	1982
118	Bogner, Sebastian	SUI	2558	1991
119	Kovalev, Vladislav	FID	2557	1994
120	Woodward, Andy	USA	2557	2010
121	Can, Emre	TUR	2552	1990
122	Stremavicius, Titas	LTU	2548	1998
123	Subelj, Jan	SLO	2545	2004
124	Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag	BRA	2545	1986
125	Nogerbek, Kazybek	KAZ	2543	2004
126	Raja Rithvik R	IND	2541	2004
127	Maksimovic, Bojan	BIH	2536	2002
128	Velten, Paul	FRA	2536	1993
129	Kuybokarov, Temur	AUS	2535	2000
130	Petrov, Martin	BUL	2533	2000
131	Lobanov, Sergei	FID	2526	2001
132	Makhnev, Denis	KAZ	2525	2000
133	Cardoso Cardoso, Jose Gabriel	COL	2524	2004
134	Samadov, Read	AZE	2523	2007
135	Ahmadzada, Ahmad	AZE	2523	2004
136	Ghazarian, Kirk	USA	2518	2006
137	Rodrigue-Lemieux, Shawn	CAN	2516	2004
138	Peng, Xiongjian	CHN	2515	2000
139	Aronyak Ghosh	IND	2514	2003
140	Blohberger, Felix	AUT	2513	2002
141	Parligras, Mircea-Emilian	ROU	2503	1980
142	Garcia Pantoja, Roberto	COL	2502	1992
143	Lalit Babu M R	IND	2502	1993
144	Galaviz Medina, Sion Radamantys	MEX	2498	2005
145	Fawzy, Adham	EGY	2495	2000
146	Atabayev, Saparmyrat	TKM	2494	1999
147	Bellahcene, Bilel	ALG	2492	1998
148	Suleymenov, Alisher	KAZ	2491	2000
149	Avila Pavas, Santiago	COL	2490	2004
150	Grigoryan, Karen H.	ARM	2485	1995
151	Suyarov, Mukhammadzokhid	UZB	2482	2009
152	Pantsulaia, Levan	GEO	2480	1986
153	Lashkin, Jegor	MDA	2480	2003
154	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2478	2005
155	Gusain, Himal	IND	2477	1993
156	Harshavardhan G B	IND	2476	2003
157	Ansat, Aldiyar	KAZ	2471	2008
158	Siddharth, Jagadeesh	SGP	2468	2007
159	Neelash Saha	IND	2466	2002
160	Oro, Faustino	ARG	2464	2013
161	Berdayes Ason, Dylan Isidro	CUB	2456	1998
162	Cori Quispe, Kevin Joel	MEX	2453	1999
163	Salinas Herrera, Pablo	CHI	2451	1994
164	Agibileg, Uurtsaikh	MGL	2449	2001
165	Banh Gia Huy	VIE	2440	2009
166	Rakotomaharo, Fy Antenaina	MAD	2438	1999
167	Rojas Salas, Steven	PER	2424	2004
168	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan	SRI	2423	2003
169	Laohawirapap, Prin	THA	2423	2006
170	Quizon, Daniel	PHI	2420	2004
171	Vazquez, Facundo	URU	2419	2004
172	Mohammad Fahad, Rahman	BAN	2416	2003
173	Tran, Thanh Tu	JPN	2412	1990
174	Schnaider, Ilan	ARG	2409	2011
175	Wang, Shixu B	CHN	2407	2001
176	Thavandiran, Shiyam	CAN	2402	1992
177	Amartuvshin, Ganzorig	MGL	2398	2005
178	Cahaya, Satria Duta	INA	2393	2008
179	Cordoba Roa, Angel Gabriel	COL	2387	2006
180	Mandizha, Farai	ZIM	2375	1985
181	Orozbaev, Eldiyar	KGZ	2375	2006
182	Akhmedinov, Satbek	KAZ	2372	2006
183	Manon, Reja Neer	BAN	2369	2010
184	Mwali, Chitumbo	ZAM	2364	1986
185	Silva, David	ANG	2347	1998
186	Elbilia, Jacques	MAR	2332	1971
187	Efimov, Igor	MNC	2331	1960
188	Ilkhomi, Jaloliddin	TJK	2322	2007
189	Kavin Mohan	MAS	2309	2011
190	Husbands, Orlando	BAR	2291	1997
191	Barrish, Daniel	RSA	2284	2000
192	Kigigha, Bomo Lovet	NGR	2263	1982
193	Salih, Akar Ali Salih	IRQ	2212	1990
194	Amdouni, Zoubaier	TUN	2186	1987
195	Boulrens, Ala Eddine	ALG	2174	2000
196	Huh, Isaak	KOR	2139	2011
197	Mafaaz Khalid	PAK	2118	1983
198	Allam, Mohamed	PLE	2112	2001
199	Alrehaili, Ahmed Abdullah S	KSA	2109	2000
200	Ndahangwapo, Heskiel	NAM	2081	2000
201	Qin, Oscar Shu Xuan	NZL	2078	2008
202	Li, Yiheng	HKG	1994	2012
203	Abugenda, Nagi	LBA	1972	1986
204	Maurizzi/Grebnev match winner
205
206

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Firouzja’s unexplained withdrawal from FIDE World Cup 2025 puts his Candidates & World Championship dream in jeopardy

Full list of confirmed players for FIDE World Cup 2025

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