Soccer’s always had a bit of an uphill battle in the U.S., hasn’t it? I mean, we’re a country obsessed with baseball, basketball, and pretty much any other sport before soccer. But with the Club World Cup 2025 right around the corner, maybe it's time we give soccer a little more respect. And this isn’t just any tournament. This Club World Cup is shaping up to be the biggest ever. The MLS is finally going toe-to-toe with the giants of global soccer. The real question: are we ready?
The Seattle Sounders have already punched their ticket, thanks to winning the Concacaf Champions Cup in 2022. That was a pretty sweet achievement, let’s be honest. But here’s the cherry on top: the 2024 MLS Cup champion automatically gets a spot too, since we’re hosting the tournament. That means the MLS finally has a shot to show if we can hang with clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich.
FIFA has locked in the group stage draw for December 5-9, 2024. So yeah, the MLS teams' fate is literally going to be decided by a little plastic ball. With everyone’s eyes on the European and South American powerhouses, the burning question is: how far can the American teams really go in this tournament? Will the MLS make a statement, or will it be crushed under the weight of these historic, powerhouse clubs?
Let’s be real – soccer has made some major strides in the U.S. over the last few decades. The league’s gotten better, stadiums are packed, and global stars are more and more willing to cross the Atlantic. But even though Seattle’s solid and the future MLS Cup champ will have their own credentials, it’s tough to imagine them having the same kind of history, technical depth, and tactical smarts as a team like Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain.
It’s like trying to throw a college team into a game against the pros. Sure, they might pull off a surprise, but it’s gonna be brutal. And let’s face it: we’re not in amateur hour anymore. In the Club World Cup, teams show up hungry, with squads full of multi-million-dollar stars and the kind of pressure that comes with not wanting to get booted by a “lesser-known” team. Meanwhile, the MLS, despite its growth, is still fighting to gain real respect on the global stage. As much as it's improved, it’s still seen as second-tier compared to Europe and South America’s heavyweights.
Now, imagine being drawn into a group with Manchester City – the team that’s basically rewriting the definition of soccer dominance. Or Bayern Munich, who seems to have an eternal contract with winning. If that happens, buckle up, because the drama’s going to be straight out of a movie, and the odds of MLS teams surviving those matchups are slim. Slim, but not impossible.
Who could forget Leicester City winning the Premier League? Or Greece lifting the Euro Cup? Sure, those are rare examples, but the idea that an MLS team could stir up some magic at the Club World Cup isn’t completely out of the question.
FIFA’s got a pretty clear game plan when it comes to the U.S. market. Soccer’s growing fast here, and the 2025 Club World Cup is a strategic play to pump even more fuel into that fire. Hosting a tournament of this caliber not only throws American teams into the spotlight, but it also amplifies soccer’s commercial appeal in the country. We’re talking about millions in sponsorships, broadcast deals, ticket sales, and, of course, a chance to capitalize on the fans’ excitement about seeing their teams go head-to-head with the biggest clubs in the world.
This is the kind of event that could be a turning point for soccer in the U.S. But if MLS stumbles hard, it could set things back. The pressure on American clubs is massive. Success in the Club World Cup isn’t just about trophies; it’s about credibility. Failure, on the other hand, will hand more ammunition to the critics who’ve been saying soccer will never truly take off as a powerhouse sport in the U.S.
And speaking of stars, we can’t forget the all-out talent fest that’s going to be on display in 2025. We’re talking about the likes of Erling Haaland, Vinícius Júnior, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar Jr., Thiago Silva, Marcelo and others, all carrying the weight of keeping the European, South America and Middle Eastern soccer dynasties intact. Meanwhile, American clubs will need to rely on their own stars to stand a chance. That is, unless Inter Miami, LAFC, or LA Galaxy (you know, the ones with global icons in their squads) snag the MLS title this season. If that happens, we could see Messi, Suárez, Busquets, Alba, Giroud, Lloris, Reus, or other legends from MLS squads stepping up to the plate. The question is: will the weight of European and South American stars overshadow the MLS, or will our teams grab the spotlight and shine?
Fans have slammed FIFA following the release of the logo for the new Club World Cup.
According to Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also chairman of the European Club Association, the new-and-expanded version of the tournament will become one of the biggest competitions on the planet.
It will differ from the traditional Club World Cup, which has seen the champions of each continent's premier competition do battle during a short period of the season.
As the tournament nears, it has been pushed on social media, and the new logo was revealed on Wednesday - though it has not gone down well with fans.
Running from from June 15 to July 13 in 2025, the edition will include teams such as Chelsea , Real Madrid and Manchester City
Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to mcok the logo, which was revealed in a short video
Ready for a new era of club football 💫#FIFACWC | #TakeItToTheWorld pic.twitter.com/BiE8Pnzhy2
The logo is shown to be gold, featuring the letters 'CWC' formed in a somewhat circle.
It was revealed in a 42-second video on social media, which featured the names and logos of all the clubs that will compete in it next year.
It also included the song 'Freed from Desire' by Gala Rizzatto.
One fan posted on X, formerly Twitter, in response to the logo: 'The MGM Lion going to come out the middle?' seemingly in reference to Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's logo.
Another wrote: 'Freed from Desire was played every day (and every night) at the Olympics. Reached a point where reporters who were at the venues every single day got sick of it.'
A third added: 'What the f*** is this s***?'
There have been criticisms of the competition surrounding how it further strains players with the footballing calendar already bursting at the seams.
Fans also mocked the use of popular song 'Freed from Desire', used in the launch of the logo
Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has claimed the competition will be 'bigger than the World Cup itself'
Al-Khelaifi, however, said earlier this year: 'The Club World Cup will be bigger than the World Cup itself, I promise you.
'It's an amazing competition, the FIFA World Cup. I'm proud of my players for their national teams. But the Club World Cup will be something different, something bigger with the fanbases of 32 clubs worldwide brought together.
'I am so excited for it.'
The sales process for broadcast rights covering FIFA's revamped Club World Cup competition has begun in several key markets.
International soccer’s governing body FIFA has begun the tender process for media rights to its revamped Club World Cup (CWC) competition in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, across the (inaugural) 2025 and 2029 editions.
The tender was launched with a bid deadline of 11am Central European Time on September 24. Invitation to tender documents can be obtained by emailing [email protected].
The first-ever edition of the new FIFA CWC, to be held in the US between June 15 and July 13, will include 32 clubs (a significant expansion from previous editions) divided into eight groups of four, with 63 matches to be played in total.
Initial discussions between FIFA and global tech giant Apple about global streaming rights to the tournament have failed to produce a deal, necessitating a formal tender process.
In July FIFA launched the tournaments’ tender across the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with the deadline having passed on August 20.
The talks between Apple and FIFA – originally reported in April – would have seen a deal of around $1 billion put in place, for worldwide rights.
The 2025 FIFA CWC will entail a new format in which FIFA’s continental governing bodies will all – apart from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) – receive multiple team slots.
Europe’s UEFA, with 12, will have the most teams involved. The line-up will include Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, and Red Bull Salzburg.
Other clubs will include Palmeiras (Brazil) and River Plate (Argentina), Al Ahly (Egypt) and Wydad AC (Morocco), Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) and Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Seattle (US) and Monterrey (Mexico), and Auckland City from New Zealand.
There are only two spots left to be taken for the 2025 edition, following Argentina’s Boca Juniors having recently sealed their place through the CONMEBOL rankings pathway last week.
FIFA has stated that it reserves the right to involve the participating clubs, such as those listed above, “in respect of the evaluation, assessment or decision-making elements of this ITT process.” This includes teams represented by the European Club Association, with which FIFA has an agreement.
FIFA is also currently selling media rights to its national team World Cups – men’s and women’s – over the next few years.
In mid-June, the Switzerland-based governing body launched the tender process for worldwide in-ship and in-flight media rights to its 2026 (men’s) and 2027 (women’s) World Cups.
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Like a fidgety kid with a birthday bash booked at Chuck E. Cheese, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced today that he “cannot wait” for next summer’s Club World Cup (CWC), which will be hosted by our very own United States. Even globe-striding persons of massive importance, however, must be patient and keep step with the passage of time like the rest of us mortals who are perhaps not as excited about the CWC as FIFA would like.
To push your sporting pulse, the soccer world’s governing body has unveiled a new logo for the competition. It features what look like three gold bars bent out of shape to form the letters CWC in the vague shape of a soccer ball (or, in the words of the official press release, “abstracted into a circular icon”). The logo “takes inspiration from the ball, football history and culture,” and also “features space in the center for FIFA to showcase the elements closest to the tournament — namely the successful clubs from all six confederations that will compete in the United States.”
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Or, put another way, it’s verbose nonsense filling a black hole. Which is very much what the tournament represents. There’s a void, albeit a tiny one, in the soccer calendar, and FIFA is determined to pack in a competition that nobody wants, while insisting that it’s going to be the second greatest soccer showpiece on earth after the World Cup. So why is it, exactly, that Infantino “cannot wait” for next summer?
The power-obsessed functionary dreams of upstaging the UEFA Champions League as the world’s No. 1 club tournament. He thinks that if he repeats often enough the dubious view that the CWC “will redefine how, when and where true club world champions are crowned” (a quote from today’s FIFA press release), then maybe the soccer world will start to believe it too. He’s like the pushy, irritating manager of a second-rate Beatles cover band trying to convince customers that his combo is better than the original Fab Four.
Rather than admit its envy at the size of UEFA’s global audience reach and colossal cash income from UCL broadcasting and sponsorship rights, FIFA is also trying to tout the notion that it cares about equality and — its favorite corporate BS-buzzword for the past few years — inclusion. The reformed CWC “is part of FIFA’s efforts to provide more match opportunities at national team and club level for all FIFA member associations — one of FIFA’s strategic objectives for the 2023-2027 cycle — and to level up standards around the world.”
If that final clause really was FIFA’s aim, then I’d be the first to applaud from my regular spot in the cheap seats heckling the top-heavy UEFA Champions League that’s bloated on hype and avarice. Yet FIFA’s stated goal is as plausible as fossil-fuel companies claiming they are backing green energy initiatives because they really care about the planet. It’s not so much the disingenuous sheen of PR virtuousness that’s galling. It’s that they think we’re stupid enough to believe a single word.
Europe will be sending more than a third of the participating teams — 12 out of 32 — to already expose the lie behind this “strategic objective,” which in reality is to generate as much cash as possible for FIFA, and to elbow its way on to UEFA’s lucrative territory.
“Thirty-two of the best clubs globally will meet on the world stage and only one will be crowned world champions,” Mr. Infantino announced. See how he packed the words ‘global’ and ‘world’ into that one short sentence? Thanks to FIFA, soccer just gets bigger and better, year after year.
Someone at FIFA, though, clearly has a sense of humor, as the Zürich-based suits also announced today that Gala’s Freed From Desire, one of the most annoying songs of all time, will be the tournament’s official anthem. If the title of the song reflects the feelings of most people in the game about the CWC — from fans to clubs to over-stretched players — then the lyrics could be seen as a commentary on FIFA’s approach to milking the game for all it’s worth:
“Want more and more, people just want more and more …”
Do people want that? Or is it just FIFA? Sixty-three games in 29 days. Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na. On and on, until we (in FIFA’s words) “change the face of club football globally,” redefining “how, when and where true club world champions are crowned.” A wishful thought from a very limited but highly ego-driven man who wants you to believe he has a vision, when in fact he’s just making his usual egregious grab for the biggest slice of the pie. If you see him in Chuck E. Cheese next summer, kids, hold on to your coupons.
It’s a shame that he could be forced to miss most of it due to the tournament’s strange timing...
The new Club World Cup format is a highly controversial one that expands on the previous format by hosting a tournament of 32 from all over the globe every few years while retaining the original format played that takes place around the winter time. Essentially, in a world where top players are worked to the bone and forced to play an unhealthy amount of games, more game time will be forced on to them.
Having said that, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer chooses to take a much more optimistic view of the new Club World Cup. It will, after all, bring together the best teams in the world for a knockout tournament format. Speaking to kicker, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, Neuer speaks his mind on his fascination of the new tournament: “I’m looking forward to it. There are more games, but this tournament is similar to a European or World Championship. We’re competing to win this tournament. It will be a new experience for me too, in a country where the World Cup will later take place.”
It could still be an awkward affair for Neuer. As the tournament is for clubs rather than country and it takes place from mid June to mid July, Neuer may begin the tournament at Bayern before being forced to cut the tournament short due to his contract expiring on June 30th of 2025. Hopefully, Neuer’s new experience will not be cut short by a poorly planned out tournament arranged by out of touch footballing executives.
