FIFA is one of the biggest sports governing bodies on the planet, so naturally, everything Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, does is subject to discussion and millions always find a way to get involved. After all, football has always been known to be the people’s game. So why wouldn’t the people have a say?
When the biggest tournament in the world was taking place three years ago in Qatar in December, FIFA council members were talking internally about something completely different: the Club World Cup, with many suggesting that a new format should be introduced. With this new format, Gianni Infantino ultimately decided that 32 teams would participate in the event, as opposed to 7 previously. This decision didn’t draw too much attention to begin with, and understandably so; the knockout rounds of the 2022 World Cup were taking place, with the attention shifting to the world’s biggest stage.
The FIFA Club World Cup has never garnered the attention of the World Cup, or even the attention sought after from FIFA when put up against the Top 5 leagues’ competitions in Europe, let alone the UEFA Champions League, with it being the biggest club competition in the world, and that every single year. It’s only right FIFA wanted to make some changes, the governing body realizing it had fallen behind UEFA when it came to club football.
But were fans the main concern when suggesting more teams should participate in the Club World Cup, or did FIFA bit off more than they could chew? Whilst allowing 32 clubs to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup is great in theory, most European Clubs were not able to get any rest, having all just come out of a tiring and gruesome season.
Football fans are always the first ones to share their opinions when it comes to the sport they love, and there are certainly both positive and negative points to the new Club World Cup format. The first positive being that the new format will take place every four years now, as opposed to every year before. Having 32 teams participate in the competition can be seen as both a good and bad thing, with there being a lot of controversy as to who should be granted entry to the competition. It should always be on sporting merit, but the format means that past winners can qualify and take opportunities away from teams who are gaining momentum. Whilst this can be a great thing, football fans are asking for better communication from FIFA and are asking for consistency and logic, with no favoritism. It being every four years is certainly a good thing too, most European clubs complain that there are too many games being played every year, and it seems like every season more and more games are being added. The many issue though, is the following:
Every week, millions of fans watch soccer, football, futbol, Fußball, many of whom follow the sport closely whilst others only from a bird’s eye view. The sport, which attracts a lot more fans every single day (as we can currently see in North America) is perhaps as its peak.
And yet.
There have been too many instances in this year’s edition of the Club World Cup so far where there have been games taking place in Atlanta, Seattle, Nashville, Miami, and Charlotte, where stadiums have been almost empty.
This certainly is not a good look, a year before the World Cup takes place in North America. This has been the talking point over the past ten days or so, and it’s a very important one. Was the Club World Cup under-advertised in the United States of America? Or is it simply due to the fact that most games take place in the middle of the afternoon, when people are at work? Either way this could be an indicator that next year’s World Cup may in fact, not be the biggest we will ever see. Perhaps people are slightly projecting, but it is still a question worth posing?
Perhaps FIFA did bite a lot more than they could chew, there’s still a long way to go before soccer becomes a sport that Americans rave about. It certainly doesn’t help to have South Korean side Ulsan HD take on South African side Mamelodi Sundows at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, any European stadium would also struggle to fill it up. It’s difficult for FIFA to reach a solid target of filling up a stadium, where the fixture takes place between two relatively unknown sides in a state where the climate always changes. FIFA were forced to reduce ticket prices in an effort to get more people to watch soccer, and as of today, there are still tickets available for most group stages matches.
Many are skeptical that next year’s World Cup becomes successful, but here at Sports-Hop, we fully anticipate the world to get behind it, with most fans of their respective nations excited at the idea of snatching tickets to see their heroes play. The Club World Cup is certainly not good publicity, but it won’t affect the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the USA at all.
