Fifa’s first 32-team Club World Cup set to kick off in US amid challenges

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 US.

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 Egypt's Al Ahly in the opening fixture on June 15 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, with tickets still widely available days before kickoff.

Mamelodi Sundowns, the 2024-25 Caf Champions League runners-up and one of four African teams in the competition, kick off their Group F campaign against Korea's Ulsan HD at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando on June 17.

A glance at Fifa's website shows many 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 (MLS) 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 Mexico's 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.

Nailing down a last-gasp $1bn (R17.9bn) TV rights deal with sports streaming platform DAZN six months before the tournament means a total of $2bn in expected revenues.

That led Fifa to announce a total prize pot of $1bn, with the winning club to receive up to $125m (R2.2bn).

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 100m by 64m, were 740m² smaller than Fifa's standard size, prompting widespread discontent among players and coaches.

Fifa has given assurances that this time the NFL American football stadiums hosting the matches will meet their specifications, confirming that all venues will feature natural grass and adhere to the standard regulation dimensions of 105m by 68m.

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 US, Mexico and Canada. 

Reuters