FIFA’s Inaugural Club World Cup to Kick Off in US Despite Hurdles

Set as a dazzling prelude to the 2026 World Cup, the expanded Club World Cup faces the challenge of filling seats after a grueling European season.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami opens the tournament June 15 against Egypt’s Al Ahly at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, where tickets remain widely available just days before kickoff.

Even the July 13 final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium shows plenty of seats up for grabs on FIFA’s website.

Messi’s presence underscores the tournament’s contentious foundations.

Inter Miami gained entry by topping Major League Soccer’s regular season standings, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs – a decision critics say shows FIFA’s desperation to have the Argentine great at their inaugural showpiece.

FIFA’s decision to give the host nation a spot and award it to Inter Miami underlined the opaque nature of the qualifying criteria, which exclude Liverpool, Barcelona and Napoli – champions of three of Europe’s most prestigious leagues.

Apart from winners of each confederation’s premier club competitions, teams qualified according to a ranking based on their performances over a four-year period.

There is also the case of Club León, the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners, who were excluded from the tournament just over a month ago due to shared ownership with another qualifier. Their spot went to MLS’s Los Angeles FC.

Rights deal

Securing a last-minute $1 billion TV rights deal with sports streaming platform DAZN six months before the tournament means total expected revenues of $2 billion.

That led FIFA to announce a total prize pot of $1 billion, with the winning club receiving up to $125 million.

That figure represents 25% more than Paris Saint-Germain earned from their entire 17-match Champions League campaign.

But this largesse has not quelled concerns about player welfare, with the global players union FIFPro taking legal action against FIFA over a tournament that further compresses recovery time between grueling seasons.

There are also concerns over playing surfaces after last season’s Copa America, which made headlines for subpar conditions and smaller pitch dimensions.

Those pitches, measuring 100 by 64 meters, were 740 square meters smaller than FIFA’s standard size, prompting widespread discontent among players and coaches.

FIFA has assured that the NFL stadiums hosting this tournament will meet specifications, confirming all venues will feature natural grass and adhere to the regulation size of 105 by 68 meters.

Divided into eight groups of four teams, top contenders include Real Madrid, winners of six of the last 12 Champions League titles; German champions Bayern Munich; and 2023 Premier League and Champions League winners Manchester City.

European champions Paris Saint-Germain enter the tournament in form after their historic 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the Champions League final Saturday.

But they face a tough Group B, featuring South American and Brazilian champions Botafogo, 2024 CONCACAF winners Seattle Sounders and Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.

Whether you call it soccer or football, for FIFA the tournament is a dress rehearsal and a referendum on America’s appetite for the sport – and on the world governing body’s commercial vision ahead of the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Kaynak: Sabah