'Trying to force the issue' for FIFA Club World Cup

From now until the end of his football career, Kylian Mbappe probably only has... 2 summer vacations left.

Stars like Valverde have had to play 70-80 matches in the past 12 months - Photo: Reuters

It sounds unbelievable, but it's likely true. Mbappe's summer holidays will be in 2027 and 2031, to be exact.

The schedule is too tight.

In even-numbered years, a European star like Mbappe will always be busy with the World Cup and Euro. Previously, they would have summer vacations in odd-numbered years. But the special edition of the FIFA Club World Cup has appeared and will most likely keep the formula of every 4 years for this version. That is, after the 2025 tournament, the FIFA Club World Cup will continue to take place in 2029, 2033...

In 6 consecutive summers, from 2024 to 2029, Mbappe will only have one summer off in 2027. He will have to play Euro in 2024 and 2028, World Cup in 2026, FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 and 2029. The above schedule (if it goes smoothly) will make the football world stunned.

Not only Mbappe, many European and South American football stars are in the same situation. Look at the schedule of Valverde - the Uruguayan superstar currently playing for Real Madrid. Since the end of June 2024, Valverde has played 73 matches, including 59 matches for Real Madrid and 14 matches for the Uruguayan national team (mostly as a starter). If Real Madrid reach the FIFA Club World Cup final, Valverde will likely play 80 matches within 12 months - a scary number.

It all evokes a long-standing debate: the debate over how much top players are being forced to play as FIFA and UEFA continue to increase and expand major tournaments.

In 2020, former midfielder Toni Kroos fired the first shot when he declared: "We are just puppets in a game manipulated by them (FIFA and UEFA). They will never stop until many players fall and can never get up again." That was when the UEFA Nations League was born not long ago and sparked dissatisfaction in the top football world, when they had to participate in another serious playground besides the World Cup, Euro and qualifying tournaments.

Many other names such as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and De Bruyne... have raised their voices similar to Kroos on this issue.

Mbappe is one of the busiest players in the world - Photo: REUTERS

Money is good

But what about the FIFA Club World Cup? No one is saying anything anymore. Initially, Pep complained about Man City's 2024-25 season schedule, which runs until the end of this summer. But recently Pep has been "silent".

Instead of complaining, Man City are speeding up the process of buying players in the next 2 weeks. Before that, they welcomed a series of expensive new players in the winter transfer window. Many of them have not played much in the past few months such as Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Echeverri. The FIFA Club World Cup could be the tournament for these young stars to play in the group stage - a good option to help Man City save some energy for the pillars.

Real Madrid even paid 10 million euros to Liverpool just to own Trent Alexander-Arnold 1 month early. This right-back's contract with Liverpool expires on June 30. But Real Madrid want him to be able to play in the FIFA Club World Cup and are willing to pay a huge amount.

Why did Real Madrid have to spend so much? Because Carvajal will likely be the team's only right-back after Vazquez leaves, and the veteran Spanish defender has only just returned from a torn ligament injury.

The FIFA Club World Cup has put teams in a very difficult situation, with a series of superstars such as Mbappe and Valverde having to play football non-stop for the past 12 months. But the big teams cannot complain.

In other words, they are "trying to get what they want" because FIFA really plays fair. Just by participating in the tournament, teams like Real Madrid and Man City are sure to pocket 40 million euros. And if they win, they can receive up to 125 million euros - the same amount as winning the Champions League. If they reach the quarter-finals or semi-finals, the prize money can also be up to 70 - 80 million euros.

That task is not difficult after all because the FIFA Club World Cup also has a series of representatives far below their strength from Asia, Africa, North Central America - Caribbean...

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-dam-an-xoi-vi-fifa-club-world-cup-20250604094611673.htm