Soccer-FIFA's inaugural Club World Cup set to kick off in the US amid challenges
FILE PHOTO: The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 winners trophy is displayed in Times Square ahead of the tournament featuring 32 teams and 63 matches, spread across 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. cities in June and July, in New York City, U.S., May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
(Reuters) - FIFA's billion-dollar gamble to revolutionise club football begins a week on Sunday with plenty of cash up for grabs but questionable enthusiasm as 32 teams prepare to contest the expanded Club World Cup in 12 stadiums across the United States.
The tournament – designed as a glittering showcase ahead of the 2026 World Cup – has had to contend with the prospect of empty seats along with controversial qualification rules and player welfare concerns after an exhausting European season.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami face Saudi Arabia's Al Ahly in the opening fixture on June 15 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, with tickets still widely available days before kickoff.
A glance at FIFA's website shows lots of tickets available, including for the July 13 final at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.
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 Argentina 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 for the tournament, which won't feature Liverpool, Barcelona or Napoli who have all just been crowned champions of three of the most prestigious leagues in Europe.
Apart from the 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 Leon, the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners, who were excluded from the tournament just over a month ago due to having shared ownership with another qualifier. The spot has gone to MLS's Los Angeles FC.
RIGHTS DEAL
Nailing down a last-gasp $1 billion TV rights deal with sports streaming platform DAZN six months before the tournament means a total of $2 billion in expected revenues.
That led FIFA to announce a totalprize pot of $1 billion, with the winning club to receive up to $125 million.
That figure represents 25% more than Paris St 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 the precious recovery time between gruelling seasons.
Furthermore there is still concern over the playing surfaces after last season's Copa America, when many headlines focused on the sub-par conditions and smaller pitch dimensions.
Those pitches, measuring 100 by 64 metres, were 740 square metres smaller than FIFA's standard size, prompting widespread discontent among players and coaches.
FIFA has given assurances that this time the NFL stadiums hosting the matches will meet their specifications, confirming that all venues will feature natural grass and adhere to the standard regulation dimensions of 105 by 68 metres.
Divided into eight groups of four teams, top contenders include Real Madrid, winners of six of the last 12 Champions League titles, plus German champions Bayern Munich and 2023 Premier League and Champions League winners Manchester City.
European champions Paris St Germain are the in-form team heading into the tournament after their historic 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the Champions League final on Saturday.
But they must survive a tough Group B featuring South American and Brazilian champions Botafogo and 2024 CONCACAF winners Seattle Sounders plus Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.
Whether you call it soccer or football, for FIFA the tournament represents a dress rehearsal and a referendum on America's appetite for the sport and on the world governing body's vision for its commercial future ahead of the 2026 World Cup being co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas in Madrid; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
35 minutes ago
- The Star
Mexico to announce 'measures' next week if no deal on US metals tariffs
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum walks along with Mexico's Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo during the inauguration of the Mexico Aerospace Fair (FAMEX) 2025 at the Santa Lucia military airbase in Zumpango, near Mexico City, Mexico April 22, 2025 REUTERS/Raquel Cunha/File Photo (Reuters) - Mexico will announce measures next week if there is no agreement reached with the United States on the steel and aluminum tariffs announced, president Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday. She also called the U.S. announcement to raise the metals' tariffs to 50% from the 25% introduce in March an "unfair measure" during her morning conference, citing the free trade agreement Mexico and Canada share with the United Sates. Sheinbaum however said that Mexico's response would not be "an eye for an eye." "It is not a matter of revenge, or retaliation as they call it in English," she said. "It is a matter of protecting our jobs and our businesses." U.S. President Donald Trump had late on Tuesday signed an executive proclamation activating the tariffs starting Wednesday. The Trump administration also wants countries to provide their "best offers" to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters. Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard is set to hold talks with high-level U.S. officials this week, Sheinbaum said. (Reporting by Raul Cortes; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Sarah Morland)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Tennis-Keys has no regrets after errors prove costly in French Open quarter-final
PARIS (Reuters) -A litany of errors ended the chances of Madison Keys in her French Open quarter-final with fellow American Coco Gauff on Wednesday but the Australian Open champion said she had no regrets for poor decisions that proved costly. Keys, the newest member of the Grand Slam winners' club following her Melbourne triumph in January, bowed out of Roland Garros after a 6-7(6) 6-4 6-1 loss with her 60th and final unforced error on match-point of a forgettable clash. The affable 30-year-old had arrived in Paris after a less than ideal run in tune-up tournaments on clay and was pleased at making the last eight after showcasing her free-swinging tennis in earlier rounds. "I don't really have regrets. I don't think I played quite the level that I wish that I could have, but I don't think that I regret not going for things or making poor decisions," Keys told reporters. "I just think that what I wanted to do and the level I produced just weren't on the same page today." Keys said playing under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier on a cold and rainy day made a difference. "Definitely a different environment to play in. A lot more dead and slow with the roof closed," Keys added. "So just very different conditions. I'd much prefer it to be bouncy and hot, but it's just the reality of weather. Conditions like today unfortunately I think play a little bit more into Coco and make her even tougher to beat. "The court being a little bit slower coupled with the fact that she covers the court so well, it just put a little bit of pressure on me to go a little bit more for my shots and maybe press a little bit too much too soon." The big-hitting Keys will welcome the switch to the grass season ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on June 30, even if the turnaround is quick. "The tennis season doesn't really allow you to ease into anything, so I'm going to London tomorrow, and I imagine I'll be on grass on Friday. That's the reality of the sport," she said. "I've typically felt pretty comfortable on grass, so the first couple of days I imagine I'll be a little bit more sore just because the ball is so much lower, and it feels like you have to work a little bit harder just to move on the grass." (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Horse racing-Small-scale breeder aims for success in 19-strong Derby field
EPSOM, England (Reuters) - A small-time breeder with just four mares to her name will take on industry titans with her homebred Pride Of Arras in Saturday's 19-strong Epsom Derby line-up. Run over a mile and a half, the race is the most important test of stamina and speed for a generation of three-year-old thoroughbreds. Now in its 246th edition, the unique horseshoe-shaped track can make or break the fortune of the sport's future breeding stars. Pride Of Arras comes into the race off the back of a spectacular win in the Dante Stakes at York for owner-breeders Lavinia and David Aykroyd, who are hoping for their first winner in the British Classic, seen as the pinnacle of the British Flat Racing season. A win would also mark a first success in the race for Ralph Beckett, who also trains 16-1 shot Stanhope Gardens, and sought-after jockey Rossa Ryan who rode Pride Of Arras to victory in both of his previous starts. "When he won as a two-year-old we knew he had a lot of potential but we didn't know how much until he won the Dante," Lavinia Akyroyd told Reuters. "I'm obviously very thrilled and looking forward to the Derby. "A lot of good horses finished behind him in the Dante. I hope we can beat them again but we're up against Ballydoyle and Godolphin (stables). I'm a little Yorkshire lady trying to beat the big boys." The Derby has been dominated in recent years by trainer Aidan O'Brien who, after completing a near sweep of trial races, sends out threeincluding Delacroix, Lambourn and the previous ante-post favourite The Lion In Winter, who finished sixth to Pride Of Arras at York. O'Brien told punters not to rule out The Lion In Winter after the disappointing run. "He was a bit behind fitness-wise at York and was very fresh but everything has gone well since," he said. Delacroix, the pick of four-time Derby winning jockey Ryan Moore, goes into the race favourite having displaced The Lion In Winter as Ballydoyle's first string after two wins this year, most recently in the Cashel Derby trial at Leopardstown. O'Brien and Moore are vying for a third straight win after Auguste Rodin in 2023 and City of Troy in 2024. A win would extend O'Brien's record as the race's most successful trainer to 11. "The Derby and Oaks are vital to us," O'Brien said. "They are the most important races for colts and fillies of the year and for the thoroughbred three-year-old generation." Ruling Court, the 2,000 Guineas winner trained by Charlie Appleby and owned by Godolphin, is attempting to become the first horse since 2012 to compete a rare Guineas-Derby double. A win would put him on track for the elusive Triple Crown, which this year comes with a 2 million pound ($2.71 million) bonus if he is victorious in September's St Leger. This year's race is run in memory of the late Aga Khan,spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims whose name became synonymous with success as a racehorse owner and breeder. Alate entry from his stable was supplemented on Monday at a cost of 75,000 pounds. Connections will be hoping the French-trained Midak can emulate the great Shergar, who won in the Aga Khan's green and red silks in 1981, and land a second Derby success for jockey Mickael Barzalona who triumphed as a teenager in 2011. Also fancied is Damysus, the mount of James Doyle, who is expected to benefit from running over a longer distance than before. ($1 = 0.7383 pounds) (Reporting by Virginia Furness; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
