One of the most divisive tournaments in football history ended on Sunday with Chelsea lifting the Club World Cup trophy in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
Fifa’s expanded 32-team competition has attracted plenty of publicity, but what have been the best and worst aspects of it?
The good
The fans
Sure, there were plenty of empty seats (more on that later), but the fans that did turn up brought the noise.
South American supporters delivered a trademark carnival atmosphere wherever they went, and the Brazilians were particularly boisterous given the success of their clubs.
Supporters from around the world took turns to take over Times Square, while the frankly terrifying neck-break celebration from a bespectacled Al-Hilal fan became one of the defining images of the tournament… and an instant meme.
The rise of the underdogs
Football has become so Eurocentric that seeing clubs from other continents get their moment in the spotlight has been a plus point.
Brazil’s quartet performed particularly impressively, with all four reaching the last-16 at least. Brazil’s Fluminense beat Inter Milan en route to the semi-finals, playing fantastic stuff along the way. Palmeiras got to the quarters, while Botafogo and Flamengo got the better of finalists PSG and Chelsea respectively.
There were nice personal stories too, not least Christian Gray, a PE teacher by day, scoring for Auckland City against Boca Juniors.
PIF-owned Al-Hilal don’t quite deserve an “underdog” tag, but their thrilling win against Manchester City was probably the game of the tournament.
Goals galore
Fortunately for a competition that began with back-to-back 0-0s, goals have flowed pretty freely.
Before the final, 173 goals were scored, working out at 3.09 per game.
That figure is in line with recent World Cups but much higher than the 2006 (147 goals) and 2010 (145) editions.
Cheap tickets (unintentionally)
Let’s be clear, here: tickets were priced scandalously high to begin with. Some “standard” tickets were set at $473.90 (£349).
Fifa’s decision to implement a dynamic pricing model to try and drive up attendances has meant that plenty of people, pre-existing football fans or new ones, have seen games for under a tenner.
That is a good thing, albeit unintentionally.
New tactical trends
Esteban Andrada’s unusual double wall for Monterrey got people talking and may have ushered in a new tactical trend.
PSG’s throwback kick for touch from kick-off routine has been fun, although it was used in the Champions League final, while Mamelodi Sundowns’ unusual “shoeshine and piano football” captured the attention.
Other enjoyable quirks included Urawa Red Diamonds’ humongous touchline tactics board.
The bad
Fifa’s nauseating back-slapping
Gianni Infantino has used every synonym for “great” that he can find to describe his brainchild, but his claim that the “32 best teams in the world” were in the US this summer is laughably one-eyed.
Auckland City are ranked 4,928th globally, according to Opta’s power rankings.
Infantino is not the only Fifa employee blowing the company trumpet. “I feel a Club World Cup is needed,” Fifa’s chief of global soccer development Arsene Wenger said.
Player welfare
This expanded tournament is living proof that Fifa (and football, the business) have scant concern for player welfare.
The sport needs fewer matches, and jamming more competitive ones into the calendar, at the end of an already demanding campaign, increases the risk of injuries.
Jamal Musiala’s sickening leg break against PSG has rid Bayern Munich of a star player for months. Speaking of player welfare…
The heat
It has been hot stateside. Very, very hot. Harry Kane dunking his face in an ice bucket during a drinks break is the 2025 equivalent of Steve Staunton wearing a cap during the national anthem at the 1994 World Cup in the US.
Players have taken unusual measures to avoid the sun, with substitutes even watching games from inside their changing rooms.
Numerous players and managers have spoken against the conditions, including Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez on the eve of the final.
“Honestly, the heat is incredible. The other day I had to lie down on the ground because I was really dizzy,” he said. “Playing in this temperature is very dangerous.”
The pitches
The state of the pitches has prompted some amusing soundbites.
“I wouldn’t imagine an NBA court full of holes,” PSG boss Luis Enrique said. “The ball bounces almost like if it were jumping around like a rabbit.”
Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac quipped the surface at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was akin to a “putting green”.
Wenger admitted the pitches “have not been perfect” but insisted “that will be rectified for the World Cup next year.”
Attendances
Swathes of empty seats in the group stage made a mockery of Infantino’s bluff and bluster. Stadiums were only 51 per cent full in the first round.
Chelsea’s opening match against LAFC pulled in 22,137 punters in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz stadium, an arena that can accomodate almost three and a half times as many.
Only 3,412 fans watched South Korea’s Ulsan take on South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in Florida; 5,282 took in Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg in Ohio; there were 6,730 for Benfica vs Auckland City, again in Florida.
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According to BBC Sport, the average attendance has been 38,369, which is lower than every international World Cup since the 1962 edition.
Attendances have gradually improved in the knockouts, in part thanks to the dynamic pricing and more convenient kick-off times. But low figures counteract Infantino’s claims that the tournament has been a “huge success”.
Fifa’s ‘innovations’
Superior Player of the Match? A 10-second countdown to kick-off? Michael Buffer calling the players out one by one? A half-time show with musical acts picked by Chris Martin? No, thank you.
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