Club World Cup: A Global Success or an Expensive Flop?

When FIFA unveiled its ambitious plans to expand the Club World Cup to a 32-team format in 2025, it promised nothing short of a footballing revolution. Supporters who saw their teams playing in the tournament perhaps warmed to the idea of becoming the best club in the world, or fans of clubs that aren't involved viewing the competition as a glorified 'Super League'.

FIFA had goals of capturing a major global audience whilst unlocking new revenue streams and creating a true global stage for club competition. Now, as the tournament concludes in the United States on Sunday evening as Chelsea face the European Champions Paris Saint-Germain, the football world is asking a critical question: Is the new Club World Cup living up to the hype or has it become an expensive burden no one really wanted?

Global Reach: Big Dreams, Modest Reality

One of FIFA’s core ambitions was to elevate the global visibility of club football beyond Europe, but despite the tournament’s presence in the American market and its expanded format, the response has been mixed.

Broadcast audiences in key markets like India, Brazil and the UK have fallen well below expectations. According to Football Benchmark, group-stage viewership was 35–50% lower than comparable UEFA Champions League matches, with many non-European games drawing fewer than 1.5 million live viewers. Top-tier matches, such as Real Madrid vs. PSG, managed to attract 10–12 million viewers globally, but those figures remain far short of the kind of reach FIFA was aiming for.

FIFA, however, reported that there were 16 million unique visitors in June alone, along with more than 6 million new followers across social platforms and over 1 million app downloads. That also doesn't include the figures from DAZN, who had the streaming rights to the competition. While traditional broadcast metrics may disappoint, FIFA can point to growing digital engagement as a sign of success, especially amongst younger audiences.

Attendance: A Tale of Highs and Lows

Another major test of the Club World Cup’s appeal has been the volume of fans in the stands. Staged across 11 U.S. cities, the tournament has seen a mixed bag of attendance figures. At its best, the competition drew huge crowds: 80,619 fans packed into the Rose Bowl for PSG vs. Atlético Madrid and 60,927 watched Al Ahly take on Inter Miami, but these highlights were counterbalanced by worrying lows. The match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Ulsan HD attracted just 3,412 fans in Orlando, whilst Chelsea vs Los Angeles drew only 22,000 to a stadium with more than triple that capacity, according to Front Office Sports.

The Sports Business Journal reported that the average attendance across group-stage matches was 34,759, which in fairness is a respectable number on paper, but one that translates to roughly 57% capacity in the often oversized U.S. venues. FIFA has claimed more than 2 million total tickets sold, averaging about 36,000 per match, but heavy last-minute discounting was needed to achieve that. In the recent semi-final between Fluminense and Chelsea, tickets could be purchased for as cheap as $13.40 (£8.90). Compare that to the other semi-final between Real Madrid and PSG, the cheapest ticket came in at around $220 (£162).

Managers & Players are Split Between Curiosity and Fatigue

The response from those within football to the Club World Cup has been as divided as the numbers suggest. Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso described the experience as "useful and refreshing" even after a semi-final exit, while Harry Kane said he "loved every minute" of it and would "100% want to return".

Not everyone is buying into the expanded club tournament. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca criticised the "brutal heat" and "poor fixture timing", though he still expressed hope the competition would grow in importance . The most outspoken critic, unsurprisingly, was former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp, who slammed the tournament as "pointless" and said it was “the worst idea ever implemented in football”.

Jurgen Klopp called the Club World Cup "the worst idea ever implemented in football." 😳 pic.twitter.com/kLRrAKHHTH

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 28, 2025

Competitive Balance for all clubs involved

FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup was designed to make it an overall even competition by offering a bigger platform for clubs outside Europe to shine. In the initial group stages, South American representative Botofogo shocked the world with a 1-0 win against PSG whilst the Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal stunned Manchester City with probably the game of the competition so far in the knockouts, winning 4-3 in extra time.

Even with the joys of shock results, European heavyweights like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea and PSG all advanced with relative ease, with two of those teams reaching the final. This just further strengthed the familiar dominance of UEFA teams. While clubs such as Wydad AC, Palmeiras, and Al Ahly have delivered spirited performances, none have made it past the early knockout stages or truly threatened the established hierarchy. Critics argue that without deeper runs from clubs outside Europe and South America, the tournament risks becoming little more than a globalised extension of the Champions League.

Growing the Game or Just Growing the Calendar?

As the Club World Cup prepares for the final showdown on Sunday between Chelsea and PSG, at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, the verdict is far from unanimous. There are glimmers of promise but there are many with future fears for the credibility of the competition.

FIFA envisioned a global celebration of club football. What we may have got instead is just an extended season for many players in desperate need of a rest. Player welfare has been completely disregarded, but can you blame certain people in football when there is $125 million up for grabs?

Can this tournament truly grow the global game or has FIFA simply created another tournament in a calendar already bursting at the seams?

Only time and perhaps a few more tournaments will tell.