FIFA Club World Cup: Money Making Machinery Or High Quality Football? Analyzing The Impact And The Outcomes Of The Tournament

The first FIFA Club World Cup is taking place currently in the United States, where 32 teams from all over the world are competing against each other. The tournament includes teams from Europe, South America, Asia, North America, Central America, Oceania, and the Middle East.

The tournament is formatted identically to the FIFA World Cup itself, starting with eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each group advancing into the knockout stages. It is an opportunity for clubs to make a name for themselves on the global stage. While this tournament may seem enthralling and entertaining for football fans, there is a notable issue which accompanies it.

Out of the 32 teams competing, 12 are European. Including footballing powerhouses such as: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Manchester City, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint German, and Inter Milan. These teams play in their respective European leagues: The Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and the Serie A. The 24/25 Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1 seasons commenced over the weekend of the 17/18th of August in 2024, while the Bundesliga began a week later on the 24th.

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Never-Ending Pressure On Players To Deliver

It is now July 3rd, 2025 with the Club World Cup quarter finals approaching, and five of the eight aforementioned teams remain. If any of those reach the final, their season would end on the 13th of July. That is nearly a full calendar year of non-stop football. After these teams' lengthy seasons, amounting to around 70 matches across the Club World Cup, domestic leagues, cup competitions, and European fixtures, they'll have just a month before gearing up to go again.

The Premier League, La Liga, and Ligue 1 seasons will begin on the weekend of the 16/17th of August, while the Bundesliga and Serie A will begin the following weekend. Having a solid preseason is fundamental for any team approaching a new season and it will be no different for these teams. This means that these teams will need to have at least a week or two of training and games in order to prepare for the season. Due to this, after 11 months of non-stop football, the players will at most have two to three weeks of rest.

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Fatigue, Injuries And The Breaking Point

This is a major issue as these players will have little to no rest before yet another physically and mentally demanding season. The players will have to instantly get back into the cycle of playing multiple games a week, and with minimal rest in the summer, they could face fatigue and injuries.

Extreme fatigue or injuries to players could negatively affect these teams' performance throughout the season and has the potential to worsen the quality of football on display. If the world's best players are fatigued or injured, the viewership experience will deteriorate slightly. It mustn't be forgotten that the FIFA World Cup is a year away, a tournament that these players dream of competing in, and the implementation of the FIFA Club World Cup has lead to a restless approach to the tournament, increasing the chances of a player to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, due to injury.

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Will FIFA Go The NBA Way?

The NBA ends in the middle of June and training camp for the new season starts up in early October. It also only ends in June for the two teams that have made the NBA finals, other teams in the playoffs will have their seasons come to a close from between the end of April to the end of May, depending on how they perform.

The fourteen teams who don't advance to the playoffs, end their season in the middle of April. This schedule allows basketball players to have lengthy off-seasons, providing them adequate rest and recovery for the next season. This makes it possible for them to perform at the highest level during their season. The NFL takes upon a similar approach and maybe it is time that FIFA considers it too. The main advantage which the FIFA Club World Cup provides is revenue for the competing clubs. While this revenue may not mean much for the footballing giants in the tournament, it is extremely significant for the smaller teams competing in the tournament. Teams such as Auckland City FC, Urawa Red Diamonds, Palmeiras, Esperance, and Mamelodi Sundowns FC, will receive dreamlike revenue from this tournament.

One of the issues with the revenue is that it's primarily performance related, meaning these small teams would have to outperform European teams in order to reap the benefits. While just participating in the tournament provides these teams significant revenue, there are other ways to financially support these teams in ways in which they don't have to dramatically overperform, such as pre season friendlies with European teams, and improved advertisement of their leagues.

Top Managers Criticize FIFA Club World Cup

"Worst idea ever implemented in football" said former Liverpool Boss Jurgen Klopp. He also went on to say "It's too many games, I fear next season we will see injuries like never before." Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sided with Klopp stating, "Of course it's not an ideal situation for the manager. Would I love to have two months to prepare for next season? Yes. Would I love to be refreshed for next season? Yes. But it is what it is." 

Taking everything into account, the unusually long season, matches played in extreme heat, empty stadiums, and the physical toll on players, it's worth asking: is the extra revenue and additional football really worth it?