The world owes FIFA an apology

There was much ridicule when Bayern Munich beat Auckland City 10-0, or Manchester City crushed Al Ain 6-0. However, time has proven that the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is a necessary tournament for world football.

PSG suffered a crushing defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final. Early morning on July 14, PSG lost to Chelsea 0-3 in the match to decide the Club World Cup title.

In the early morning of July 14, Chelsea caused a big surprise when they beat PSG 3-0 in the final of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. All predictions of the majority of experts and fans before the match were reversed, when a seemingly perfect PSG was easily defeated by Chelsea.

Sitting in the VIP stands, FIFA President Gianni Infantino smiled with satisfaction. Because the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup had a dramatic ending, true to the eternal surprise nature of football, which makes it the "king of sports ".

Far-reaching impact

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is not only a playground for fame but also a race for money, with far-reaching impacts on domestic tournaments around the world. It brings a financial revolution to many clubs, if not to say life-changing for many teams.

The maths is simple for Chelsea. They signed striker Joao Pedro from Brighton for around £60m just over a week ago. In his first three games for Chelsea, Joao Pedro helped Enzo Maresca's side beat Palmeiras, then scored twice in the win over Fluminense, and then shone in the final.

These contributions earned Chelsea £90 million ($116 million) in prize money, equivalent to the cost of recruiting 1.5 players like Joao Pedro. FIFA has made no secret of the fact that the financial factor is one of the things that makes the Club World Cup so important to many clubs.

Cole Palmer shines in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final.

Money became the main driver of the tournament, a move FIFA needed to convince traditionally skeptical European clubs that the tournament was worth taking part in.

Chelsea certainly don’t need much encouragement from anyone. Earlier this month, the London club were fined £26m by UEFA for breaching financial regulations. In recent seasons, Chelsea have had to sell two hotels and their entire women’s team to a “sister” company to meet Premier League rules on profitability and financial sustainability.

Chelsea’s big money from the Club World Cup will help them improve their balance sheet significantly. In addition to Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund also earned around £30m from reaching the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. According to the club’s marketing director, Carsten Cramer, this money will give the team some advantages when competing in the 2025/26 season.

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl confirmed that some of the money will be used to improve the squad compared to last year. Of course, this amount of money is not revolutionary for big clubs like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Manchester City, but it could help change the face of Flamengo, Fluminense or even Auckland City.

Change your life

Luiz Eduardo Baptista, president of Flamengo – South America’s biggest club – told The Observer ahead of the tournament: “We are the biggest club in South America, and the Brazilian economy is always growing. For us, the money from the Club World Cup is important, but for some teams it has a much bigger impact. For some teams, they can earn around 70% of their annual revenue in just one month.”

Chelsea reaped the rewards of winning the FIFA Club World Cup.

Baptista’s assessment is spot on. Fluminense, the last Brazilian side to reach the semi-finals, finished the tournament with £45m in prize money, more than three-quarters of their total revenue last year. Botafogo also received £20m, around a third of their annual revenue.

In South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns earned £9.2m. In New Zealand, Auckland City earned at least £5m from their participation in the Club World Cup, equivalent to 10 times the club's annual revenue.

Even millions of pounds in other prize money from FIFA are also shared with the Oceania Football Confederation to develop the king sport in this region.

Attraction

There was plenty of ridicule when Bayern Munich beat Auckland City 10-0, or Manchester City thrashed Al Ain 6-0. However, over time, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has been a tournament that has seen many surprises, where European teams are not the "lonely losers".

Flamengo beat Chelsea 3-1 in the group stage, Botafogo defeated PSG 1-0, Inter Miami defeated Porto 2-1, Auckland City held Boca Juniors to a 1-1 draw, and Al-Hilal defeated Manchester City 4-3, showing the appeal of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

The victories of Brazilian clubs over many European teams show that the gap between South American and European football is narrowing. Teams such as Al-Hilal and Inter Miami also prove that regions outside Europe can create surprises, adding to the appeal of the tournament.

According to The Guardian , FIFA's new Club World Cup "redefines" the club world championship, moving away from its previous image as a largely unattractive friendly event. And Chelsea's big shock in the final against PSG was the perfect ending.

Source: https://znews.vn/the-gioi-no-fifa-mot-loi-xin-loi-post1568402.html