Club World Cup opens with a whimper

Telegraph

9 hours ago

Inter Miami 0 Al-Ahly 0
Goalless but, thankfully, not wholly soulless even if at times it felt as tacky as the thick Florida evening air.
Gianni Infantino boasted of the 'big bang' for this Club World Cup. The first of its 64 games in just four weeks – yes, 64, so buckle up – came and went with a low-key whimper. There was dynamic pricing for the tickets but predictably there was not enough dynamic football.
The Club World Cup needs Lionel Messi. A new era or a new error? But Messi did not deliver. Not this time. But neither did Inter Miami embarrass themselves, as some feared. And there will be relief in that even if that is not really what elite tournaments are meant to be about.
Quite what Messi made of it all was unclear. The game's greatest-ever, the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner was last out as kick-off approached to try and maximise his impact, with the organisers insisting each player arrived on his own and walked half the length of the pitch. As he emerged Messi wore a genuinely quizzical look on his face. Bizarrely the rigmarole delayed the start by seven minutes.
Who could blame him. He and Miami were shoe-horned into this competition by the onlooking Fifa president and it did not appear like a comfortable fit. The tactics from Fifa appeared to be the same as they were from Miami: Leo just be there and do something. 'Messi, Messi,' rang around. But he was quiet.
Playing the full 90 minutes, which almost felt contractual, despite the 30-degree heat, the 37-year-old could not quite do it although there were shrieks when a free-kick clipped a post and struck the side-netting. Many thought he had scored. How Infantino will have wished he did.
64' DID THE BALL NOT GO INSIDE THE NET?!?
Messi's freekick fools everyone 😮
Watch the @FIFACWC | June 14 - July 13 | Every Game | Free | https://t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld pic.twitter.com/ZW2Iy9aKYy
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) June 15, 2025
In injury-time, his cross was tipped onto the crossbar. Again close.
In fact against Al-Ahly Messi was not even Miami's best Argentinean thirtysomething. That was 38-year-old goalkeeper Oscar Ustari who made a host of fine saves and repelled a first-half penalty from former Aston Villa forward Trezeguet.
@OscarUstari the @InterMiamiCF goalie put on an absolute clinic in the opening game of the #FIFACWC - enjoy all the electric saves on repeat 🚀🚀🚀 and treat yourself to all the @FIFACWC games on 👉 https://t.co/jTpDArxkZd pic.twitter.com/0hPQvSJFhx
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) June 15, 2025
Messi was not alone in being underwhelming but he did offer more than his creaking former Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets. Suarez's most noteworthy contribution was to get booked.
The strange nature of it all, more akin to a pre-season friendly, was summed up by the half-time 'entertainment' with 'Team Fifa' taking on 'Team Speed' – yes, a three-man side involving and named after the American YouTuber and Cristiano Ronaldo-fanatic who now appears to be Infantino's go-to media guy, IShowSpeed.
With Infantino, flanked by Ronaldo – the Brazilian one – and Roberto Baggio watching on from the stands it was a crossbar challenge. Speed, of course, and former players Sergio Aguero and Pepe – whose effort was wayward and hit a fan on the head – never came close.
Only Alessandro Del Piero, for Team Fifa, succeeded in nonchalantly chipping against the goal-frame and was subjected to an in-depth, on pitch interview. 'How you feel?' he was asked. 'I feel great,' the World Cup winner said and off he went. So there you go.
And, so, this is what football is in danger of being reduced to. The fans of the Egyptian champions, Al-Ahly, made an atmosphere and saved the occasion but most of them, in truth, had travelled from other parts of the United States to see Messi. Football almost as a zoo and the only noise louder than the Al-Ahly supporters was the kerching from Fifa.
Even so interest has been next to none in this inflated, 32-team Infantino vanity project that was imposed upon America ahead of next year's World Cup and its opening fixture was in keeping with that.
There is no real buzz. No actual anticipation. No local excitement. Not even a poster or a billboard. The weekend interest is in the ice hockey, the Stanley Cup, involving the Florida Panthers, not a competition no-one has heard of although there was a cheer when Miami's co-owner David Beckham – the newly ennobled Sir David – walked pitchside.
David Beckham: "It's been an emotional week" 🤩
Inter Miami's owner cannot believe that the long wait is over 🔥
WATCH @AlAhly - @InterMiamiCF in the @FIFACWC now | June 14 - July 13 | Every Game | Free | https://t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld pic.twitter.com/YZD9NeRKQ0
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) June 14, 2025
Sluggish ticket sales and hopeless public transport
Empty seats? It had been a concern. But, in truth, most were taken even if the announcement that the attendance was 60,927 inside this 65,000-capacity arena looked like an Arsenal-style 'tickets sold' policy. Still there were not swathes of unoccupied stands, as had been feared and as are expected later in this tournament at matches that are much more difficult to sell. Mamelodi Sundowns against Fluminense back here on Wednesday, in the 3pm heat, on a working day, anyone?
The bigger issue was getting in, and getting away afterwards, and given this American Football venue, the home of the Miami Dolphins, will also stage matches at next year's World Cup that must be improved. But will Fifa care?
Infantino insisted on big stadiums and high-ticket prices. Eight of the 12 venues can hold at least 65,000 fans and only 12 games are being hosted in MLS-dedicated stadiums.
Greed took this fixture away from Miami's 21,000-seat Chase Stadium – in fact this was the first time they have ever played here – and while we were repeatedly told that America was ready and gagging for this $1billion event it does not look like it.
Transport to the stadium was and always has been a nightmare with no trains or buses coming close and Uber drivers dropping off passengers a mile away. One entrepreneurial local was charging $20 a ride in a golf buggy to cover that final mile and was doing a roaring trade.
Inevitably the stadium was slow to fill. Many missed kick-off because of extra security, a second cordon away from the stadium to prevent a repeat of last summer's chaotic Copa America final when thousands of ticketless Colombians and Argentineans stormed their way into the ground.
Staging the opening game here, with Miami, might have felt logical but was probably also a mistake. Miami season-ticket holders have had their chance to see Messi. Why would they pay more to watch him against a team they know nothing about?
Even so stories of $4 tickets being offered to fill up the stadium were a little disingenuous given those tickets were for students at Miami Dade College, where some of the poorest go, and many of whom work as volunteers at this venue. Yes, those tickets were unsold but it felt a bit harsh.
Not that Fifa or this Club World Cup is making itself easy to love. Or America, either, with controversy over whether US immigration officials are attending matches to try catch people out or are simply being drafted in as necessary added security because these are big events.
Tournaments, including World Cups, often start slowly with momentum building and maybe that will happen here when the big teams face-off in the latter stages. But, right now, this still feels like a competition too far. For players, for fans and for football. If not for finance.