FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Why is Real Madrid still the top candidate?

TPO - Although it has lost its throne in Spain and Europe, Real Madrid - the team that has won the FIFA Club World Cup 5 times - is still the top candidate in this year's tournament.

Real Madrid hold the record for winning the FIFA Club World Cup five times.

For most clubs, finishing second in the league, both domestic cups and reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League would be a successful season. But for ambitious Real Madrid, it would mean changing coaches.

After two successful terms in charge of Real Madrid, a trophyless season and failure to reach the Champions League semi-finals brought an end to the reign of Carlo Ancelotti, the most successful coach in the club's history.

To replace him, Real Madrid appointed Xabi Alonso - the team's former midfielder - who won the Bundesliga title in his first season leading Bayer Leverkusen.

What is Alonso's biggest challenge at Real?

At 43, Alonso is not taking over a tired team. Just a season ago, Real Madrid won the La Liga and Champions League double.

Last year, they also recruited the new “Galactico” Kylian Mbappe. And it is this French star who could become the biggest challenge for coach Alonso. The problem is not Mbappe’s personality or spirit, but his position in the squad.

According to coach Ancelotti, Real Madrid is an unbalanced team and lacks “team connection”. In other words, the squad has too many attacking players forced to be put on the field, while the defense is devastated by injuries. At the same time, Real has not found anyone of sufficient quality to replace Toni Kroos, who retired last season.

After the FIFA Club World Cup, Luka Modric, another icon in midfield, will also leave the team, taking with him his experience, character and unique tactical vision.

Mbappe's position in the squad is a "difficult problem".

Tactical problems with Mbappe, Bellingham and Vinicius

Two seasons ago, when Kroos had not yet retired, Real Madrid played extremely smoothly with Jude Bellingham playing in the attacking midfield role, supporting Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

Mbappe’s arrival forced Bellingham to drop deeper, forcing Real Madrid to switch from a “false 9” formation to a more traditional 4-3-3. As a result, the team’s chemistry was clearly affected.

Although Mbappe finished the season with 43 goals in all competitions and became La Liga's top scorer, partly thanks to the season-ending injury of Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid's play was no longer as smooth as before.

Compared to the season when they were 10 points ahead of Barcelona, ​​this year Real Madrid are 4 points behind their arch-rival, a clear demonstration of a decline in efficiency.

Alonso's task now is to get Real Madrid running smoothly again, with Mbappe, Bellingham and Vinicius all indispensable in big games. And his first test will come at the FIFA Club World Cup.

What does the FIFA Club World Cup mean to Real?

Ahead of the final El Clasico of the season, coach Ancelotti mocked his arch-rivals Barcelona about a bitter reality: they did not qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.

“Playing against Barcelona is always special," said the Italian strategist. "And this will be the last El Clasico this season, because Barcelona are not participating in the FIFA Club World Cup."

At that time, the pressure was on coach Carlo Ancelotti's shoulders, and the prospect of his dismissal was almost inevitable. The 3-4 heartbreaking defeat to Barcelona officially ended the hope of defending the La Liga title. Before that, in the Champions League, the Royal team also fell to Arsenal in the quarter-finals, ending the European journey in regret.

And in his last appearance on the Real Madrid bench, coach Ancelotti still emphasized the specialness of the FIFA Club World Cup. For Real, this is not simply an expanded friendly tournament. It is a front of honor, an opportunity to reaffirm the world's number one position of a great club.

FIFA Club World Cup: Titles or money?

Despite the controversy over the format and schedule, there is no denying that the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup brings huge financial value to the teams.

The winning team will receive up to 125 million USD, a record prize in the history of club tournaments. The total prize fund of the tournament is up to 1 billion USD, making the FIFA Club World Cup a new "gold mine" for FIFA.

Therefore, although glory on the pitch is still the goal, the huge prize money and global influence are what make clubs like Real Madrid ready to enter the tournament with the highest determination.

Watch live and only FIFA Club World Cup at https://fptplay.vn

Trong Dat

Source: https://tienphong.vn/fifa-club-world-cup-2025-vi-sao-real-madrid-van-la-ung-vien-hang-dau-post1750935.tpo