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

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.

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.

Full list of confirmed players for FIDE World Cup 2025

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