With the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup officially wrapped up, Boardroom breaks down the pros and cons from this year’s tournament.
The FIFA Club World Cup was envisioned as the ultimate stage for crowning the world’s best club team, bringing together continental champions from every corner of the football world. Offering a rare platform where teams from Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, North America, and Oceania compete for a single title (and millions in prize money), promoting cross-continental rivalries, and elevating global exposure for lesser-known clubs, it was a perfect formula for unification. It delivered unique matchups for players, while for players and clubs, it offered both international recognition, which in turn means an opportunity to be noticed by a more successful team looking for fresh legs. Ultimately, the tournament has played a key role in spreading soccer’s everlasting influence into emerging markets, aligning with FIFA’s long-term goal of further globalizing the sport.
Despite its ambitious goals and occasional bouts of excellence, the FIFA Club World Cup was met with persistent criticisms and logistical setbacks that have hindered its impact, longevity, and effectiveness. Many football purists argue that the competition lacked the prestige and intensity of other organized tournaments, perhaps marred by bureaucratic decision-making.
Boardroom dives into some key areas where FIFA excelled and where the federation missed the mark:
1. Competitive Prize Money
Undoubtedly, the biggest incentive — outside of bragging rights — was the $1 billion prize money divided among the participating clubs. FIFA wanted to make it worthwhile for you to commute to the United States, especially for clubs like amateur side Auckland City FC, traveling from Oceania. Even teams that didn’t advance past the group stage but managed to triumph with a win or even a draw saw money in their pockets, the tune of at least a million.
Winners Chelsea FC, valued at $3.5 billion, only further increased their profits after beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 at MetLife Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Blues walked away with an estimated $121 million, which will be split between players, personnel, and presumably used to sign more talent to challenge Liverpool for the domestic title next season. Comparatively, Chelsea’s fourth-place finish in the 2024-25 Premier League season netted them almost $220 million.
2. Empty Stadiums
Call it a test for the FIFA Men’s World Cup next summer, which the United States will also play host alongside Canada and Mexico, but the alarming number of empty seats across the 11 host stadiums wasn’t the most glowing endorsement of America adopting the global game. Sure, cities like Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles are soccer meccas in their own right, but the idea of playing football in the middle of the day (under oppressively high temperatures) while most are working to afford the on average $230-$693 tickets for this tournament felt somewhat discouraging.
Group stage play saw 1 million empty seats in 48 games, with even Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca characterizing his side’s 2-0 win over LAFC a “strange environment” due to the 22,137 in attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which has a capacity of 71,000. This triggered organizers to significantly discount passes, allowing anyone looking for last-minute plans to catch the match of the day. Considering the number of participating countries next year (48), select matches will receive a midday kickoff time to accommodate communities watching worldwide. They have a year to remedy 2025’s mistakes, but can’t fault them for gauging the lengths fans are willing to travel to see their favorite clubs or players compete.
3. Memorable Performance By the Underdogs
To some extent, soccer has become oversaturated with millions of fans cheering on the same club. Whether it be the Big 6 Premier League sides or the La Liga and Bundesliga teams that boast millions of followers across digital platforms, it’s rare we see semi-unknown clubs recognized to this degree on network television. Group-level play easily changed that, introducing us to teams worth keeping our eyes on year-round. All four teams from Brazil went as far as the Round of 16, and aforementioned Auckland City FC rightfully got a taste of what it’s like playing on a proper pitch, with PE teacher Christian Gray finding the back of the net versus Boca Juniors for a moment he surely won’t forget. Flamengo made an example of eventual winner Chelsea early, winning 3-1 in front of a surprisingly large number of supporters in group play. We likely won’t see many of these teams perform on a global stage again, so deserved praise for introducing spectators to what they might have been missing, constrained to a Eurocentric bubble.
4. A Gamble on Players’ Welfare
Soccer is one of the most taxing sports to play at the professional level. Between league play beginning in August and the international break, as well as other lingering in-season tournaments, most players are completely wiped out by May. PSG had barely two weeks to celebrate its first Champions League title before it was rushed stateside to play at its best for another five weeks. Whether the discussion lies in whether a tournament of this nature is worth producing or not, there needs to be more consideration for players’ fitness at all levels.
Bayern Munich‘s Jamal Musiala sustained a horrific injury against PSG on July 6, which will surely impact his ability to suit up when the Bundesliga returns next month. Thankfully, that was the only serious casualty of the event, but soccer is slowly becoming a year-round commitment for these athletes, for whom no amount of money can justify a lack of rest and personal time. There are individuals within FIFA and UEFA who can put a halt to this demanding scheduling, but that would require both parties to put aside their extended resentment for one another in order to reach a satisfactory resolution.
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5. Caught in the Crossfire of Global Politics
For all its efforts to be a neutral entity, FIFA’s flashes of self-indulgence felt like an attempt at good PR. Introducing attention-grabbing theatrics over the last five weeks might have been an acceptable distraction for those new to the sport, but footy purists weren’t impressed by the shameless attempts at appealing to audiences who aren’t as invested in long-term strategy.
That brings up the topic of a crowded podium, specifically one guest who couldn’t help but cast an ominous shadow over Chelsea’s celebration. President Donald Trump was present for the final match at MetLife, and much like his decision to attend the Super Bowl back in February, it was a last-minute trip by a president embroiled in controversy since he took office for the second time. Rather than giving the Blues their well-deserved moment, he couldn’t help but make it about himself, standing onstage and blocking the players who actually performed from touching the hardware, despite pleas from FIFA President Gianni Infantino to usher him away.
Hoarding the trophy for yourself and forcing Chelsea to return with a replica was the first offense, but actually prohibiting them from relishing in victory is both insensitive and a result of what happens when Infantino doesn’t assert boundaries early on. With the United States gearing to welcome visitors from 48 countries, the optics of allowing the leader of this nation, whose current laws directly affect immigrants, to play a role in any festivities centered around an international event create both chaos and confusion ahead of next summer.
FIFA would do well to remember that in addition to watching elite soccer, we’re celebrating the diversity of federations, not bending the knee to temporarily earn his seal of approval.
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