Real Madrid promises to play their best at the FIFA Club World Cup - Photo: REUTERS
At 6:15 a.m. on June 15 (Vietnam time), the opening ceremony of the FIFA Club World Cup will take place at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Garden (Florida, USA).
Controversy everywhere
A day before the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly, US media reported that only about 25,000 tickets out of 65,000 seats at Hard Rock Stadium had been sold. Part of the reason was that the initial ticket price was too high, around $350 for a seat in the upper area. FIFA seemed to have overestimated the appeal of Messi - who has been a "familiar face" to American audiences for the past 2 years.
Next, American fans were not very interested in the opening match, when Inter Miami only played Al Ahly (Egypt). But the current lack of ticket sales also raised vague concerns among the fan community. Although the FIFA Club World Cup has existed since 2000, it has never been an event of interest to the football world.
FIFA’s move to expand the tournament to a 32-team, four-yearly version of the national team World Cup was a huge gamble. When the idea was first floated in 2019, FIFA faced fierce criticism. Coaches and players were unhappy with the increasing workload. And FIFPro, the world’s professional footballers’ union, threatened to sue FIFA for not caring about player health.
But when FIFA announced the total prize money for the tournament was up to 1 billion USD, everyone was... silent. For European clubs, just by being present in the tournament, they will pocket a minimum of 13 - 39 million USD, and the highest can be up to about 125 million USD if they win the championship. Even teams from Asia, Africa or North Central America - Caribbean also pocket at least 10 million USD for participating.
To make big clubs from Europe, or even other continents, "happily" participate, FIFA needs to bring enough benefits. In this case, the most important benefit is money.
Gamble on professional quality
If you had a choice, would you rather watch South Korea in the World Cup or Ulsan HD in the FIFA Club World Cup? The former, of course. Dark horses are always a specialty in national tournaments. With the spirit of national pride, small football teams often make up for the gap in expertise.
That's the big problem with the FIFA Club World Cup. Fans are worried that the giants of Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich will easily "make mincemeat" of opponents from Oceania, Asia or Africa in the group stage. Add to that the Ulsan HD - Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) match. If it were Korea vs South Africa at the World Cup, the excitement would probably be greater.
But don’t be too quick to judge before the ball is rolling. The FIFA Club World Cup makes the schedules of elite players even more demanding. But compared to international tournaments, it has one distinct advantage: the continuity of the club season.
Normally, when stars return to the national team, they face certain difficulties in terms of playing style. That is understandable because in a national team, each player usually only has 4-5 teammates wearing the same club shirt. Watching the German team play will never be as rhythmic as watching Bayern Munich.
The club season only ended at the end of May. And two weeks of international break-ups are not enough to make Man City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich lose their coherence. Nor are clubs from Africa and Asia.
At least the European giants have shown they are serious about the FIFA Club World Cup. Real Madrid, Man City and Chelsea have all spent heavily on new players in the past 10 days, when FIFA opened a special transfer window for big clubs to prepare for their beloved tournament. Every project needs a first step.
Fans have every right to doubt the sustainability of this special edition of the FIFA Club World Cup. But let's wait and see if this summer's world club football festival in the US is as exciting as FIFA promises.
Promises explosive opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will take place at 6:15 a.m. on June 15 (Vietnam time) at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, USA. The event promises to open a tournament on an unprecedented scale, when for the first time 32 of the world's top clubs will gather to compete in a new format similar to the national team World Cup.
The 30-minute show, themed "A New Era Begins," featured big names in music such as French Montana, Swae Lee, and other prominent Latin artists. The stage was grandly designed with state-of-the-art lighting and sound effects created by Balich Wonder Studio and Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan Jr.
Immediately after the opening ceremony, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami will face Al Ahly (Egypt) in the opening match.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/fifa-club-world-cup-nhieu-tranh-cai-sat-gio-khai-mac-20250614002225606.htm
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