Did FIFA single-handedly destroy its beloved tournament?

FIFA - Ảnh 1. — Bayern Munich scored 10 goals against Auckland City - Photo: REUTERS

As expected, Oceania representative Auckland City was completely annihilated by Bayern Munich, suffering a 10-0 defeat in their opening match of Group C at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

It was an inevitable defeat when one side was one of the world's most powerful teams, and the other was a team of semi-professional players. Many of the Auckland players were drivers, factory workers, office workers, etc.

So the question is, why would a team like that automatically qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup?

The FIFA Club World Cup adopts a 32-team format similar to the previous World Cup (for national teams) model (before increasing to 48 teams from 2026). And under this model, Oceania only has half a spot.

In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, New Zealand topped their Oceania qualifying group and then entered a play-off match against a representative from North Central America and the Caribbean. The result was a 0-1 defeat for New Zealand.

But nobody could argue with that. Oceania's football scene was too small to qualify for the World Cup. That's why Australia requested to switch to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2006 to gain more competitive experience.

If that's the case at the national team level, it's even more amateurish at the club level. Auckland City is clearly just a semi-professional club, yet they've won the continental championship four years in a row.

FIFA probably wanted to paint a fairytale story for the FIFA Club World Cup. But no miracle happened. Bayern Munich's 10-0 victory was a slap in the face to the tournament's promotional efforts.

Furthermore, FIFA's restriction limiting each country to a maximum of two clubs in this tournament has also been criticized.

Many fans wonder why a club from Austria like Salzburg was able to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, while giants like Barca and Liverpool were eliminated?

Europe has a total of 12 representatives, which are the 12 teams with the highest points on the UEFA ranking – based on their performance in continental competitions over four seasons (2020-2021 to 2023-2024).

But based on these rankings, Salzburg only ranked 18th, while Liverpool ranked 8th - eliminated, and Barca - ranked 12th - also eliminated.

The reason is that Liverpool are ranked above two English teams: Man City (ranked 1st) and Chelsea (ranked 5th). Therefore, Liverpool are automatically out of the running. Similarly, Barca are also behind two Spanish teams: Real Madrid (ranked 2nd) and Atletico Madrid (ranked 10th).

FIFA's rule limiting each country to a maximum of two clubs has excluded Liverpool, Barcelona, and Napoli – the reigning champions of England, Spain, and Italy. Instead, they have welcomed Salzburg and Juventus, teams that have been far inferior to the aforementioned group in recent years.

Any tournament called the "World Cup" should be based on the criteria of the world's strongest teams. But then FIFA includes semi-professional teams, mid-level teams, and excludes the most powerful and historically rich clubs.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/fifa-co-tu-tay-pha-nat-giai-dau-con-cung-20250616072735258.htm