According to the Ass, although the opening of the Club World Cup is about to begin, it has not attracted widespread attention in the United States, and the hosting of the entire event is also full of various problems.
This event was only held after FIFA's efforts, but it encountered many oppositions at the beginning of its conception. The most important opposition voices come from the league and the players. The European League, La Liga (led by Tebas) and the International Federation of Professional Football Players (FIFPRO) have always been strongly opposed to this event.
Even Golden Globe winner Rodri once said that he would consider a strike if the schedule problem is not resolved. However, FIFA not only did not simplify the schedule, but instead further increased the schedule burden by expanding to the New Club World Cup with 32 teams. As compensation, FIFA has provided generous financial support to participating teams, thus earning their recognition, including the European Club Association (ECA).
However, there are still many questions and controversies about the first competition. First of all, this Club World Cup lacks top stars, such as Salah, Ronaldo and Yamal, who is competing for the Golden Ball Award, did not participate. There are also some problems with the qualifying system. Although 12 European teams have participated, the qualification is limited to the past four years, and each country can only send up two teams, making performance in the last year irrelevant. As a result, champion teams like Barcelona, Liverpool and Naples failed to compete.
In addition, Manchester United, Arsenal and Milan did not participate in the competition. According to the Guardian, FIFA has planned to expand the number of participating teams in 2029, although the first 2025 competition has not yet begun.
Ticket sales were not as expected, the initially high ticket prices have been significantly reduced, with ticket discounts for most competitions approaching 80%. Despite the large stadium capacity, filling these seats is not easy. Only Real Madrid's game really attracted the attention of fans, and other games can still be easily bought, which is quite rare when the Club World Cup is about to open.
In addition, the recent riots in Los Angeles directly affected one of the competition venues, which will host Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Despite this, the controversial Club World Cup has arrived and everything is full of uncertainty.