What FIFA Can Learn From 2025 Club World Cup, And What It Got Right

On Monday, as Manchester City players slumped to their knees in defeat, the 2025 Club World Cup finally had its narrative-changing moment.

The tournament can be seen as two distinct phases.

The group stages are about developing global soccer and showcasing teams from every corner of the planet. The knockout rounds are all about the world’s biggest teams playing high-stakes matches where a win is worth tens of millions of dollars.

FIFA’s challenge has been combining these two phases so that fans wanting to see Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich also care about Mamelodi Sundowns vs Ulsan HD. But when Al Ain is losing 6-0 to Manchester City or Auckland City is losing 10-0 to Bayern Munich, that challenge becomes a lot tougher. FIFA needed a win, and Al Hilal delivered it.

Club World Cup “Isn’t Just About Europe”

The quarterfinals were expected to be an all-European affair, with perhaps one or two South American teams there too. Now with Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal playing Brazil’s Fluminense, there’s going to be at least one non-European side in the semi-finals. Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibault Courtois, speaking on Tuesday, said “Football today isn’t just about Europe anymore. We need to respect all clubs – we saw it yesterday with Al Hilal beating City, or the Brazilian teams who always compete at the top level.”

Al Hilal’s dramatic 4-3 win over Manchester City, coupled with Brazilian side Fluminense’s 2-0 win against Inter Milan, showed that clubs from the rest of the world can compete with the European giants. And anyone who claims these matches “are just friendlies” clearly didn’t see Marcos Leonardo’s celebrations after clinching the winner against Manchester City.

The Club World Cup had significant teething problems ahead of the tournament, from sponsorship challenges to broadcast deals and ticket sales, but FIFA will be betting on the excitement of these later rounds of the tournament creating a lasting impression that the tournament is a success.

Queue To Host Club World Cup

Countries are already reportedly queuing up to host future editions of the tournament. Brazil, Australia, Qatar and a joint bid between Spain, Portugal and Morocco have all expressed an interest in the 2029 Club World Cup.

FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafstrom, speaking exclusively for this article, says that a FIFA-WTO study estimates this year’s tournament will generate $9.6 billion GDP and unlock $3.36 billion in social benefits in the U.S. alone. Perhaps it’s no surprise that other countries are now looking to host the Club World Cup.

But at the same time, there are some lessons that FIFA can learn from this year’s tournament.

From thunderstorms to empty stadiums and one-sided games, there are a few tweaks FIFA could consider making.

Weather Worries

With the 2026 World Cup happening at the same time of year in some of the same venues as the Club World Cup, FIFA will have to deal with thunderstorms next summer too. Six games were delayed due to thunderstorms, with some of the breaks longer than the matches themselves. In some sports like cricket, there is some acceptance that the weather can get in the way, but for a 90-minute match timed to be played at prime time, such delays could have huge implications.

It can damage sponsor confidence, add to operations budgets and devalue media rights deals.

As even Gianni Infantino can’t change the weather, it is vital that FIFA look at ways to minimize the effects of severe weather on the tournament, perhaps by looking at scheduling to reduce the likelihood of weather delays, playing fewer games in cities more prone to storms, and timing games in those cities to avoid the most likely times of the day for thunderstorms.

When thunderstorms do occur, FIFA must ensure players get sufficient recovery time after delayed games, or build back-up days into the schedule in case games need rearranging.

Chelsea’s Reece James said that during the delay in the game against Benfica, he used an exercise bike to keep his muscles ready for action. FIFA should ensure that sufficient equipment is available at each stadium, and that transportation options for fans are still available if the games are delayed.

There have also been issues with the heat, especially for early afternoon matches, with Borussia Dortmund opting to keep their substitutes in the locker room to protect them from the sun. This is something FIFA should also look into when scheduling games next summer.

Stadium Selection

FIFA has faced criticism for empty stadiums for some of the games, such as when few people turned up for Mamelodi Sundowns vs Ulsan HD, but one thing that is overlooked is that the three games with the smallest crowds were all played at relatively small soccer-specific stadiums rather than giant American football behemoths.

The average attendance across the group stage was more than 34,000, which is better than many other tournaments, and the attendance in the latter stages will be much higher. Apart from scheduling more games at the weekends rather than during midweek working hours, there isn’t much FIFA can do in this regard.

In terms of travel though, rather than having group stage games played in one region, most of the groups were split between the northeast and southeast, forcing teams to travel between Florida and New Jersey rather than just play matches in New Jersey and Philadelphia, for example. While spreading the games out gives fans in more areas the chance to see their favorite teams and allows teams to market themselves in more locations, it creates extra costs for fans and adds to players’ fatigue.

There has also been criticism, especially regarding Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, over the lack of transport options for fans that are not driving to the game, with many reportedly forced to walk long distances and pay through the nose for an Uber. With World Cup fans from overseas also heavily relying on public transport, this is something FIFA should look at.

One-Sided Scorelines

FIFA’s biggest challenge though is building interest in the teams from outside Europe and South America, and reducing the number of one-sided games.

Auckland City surprised the world by drawing with Boca Juniors of Argentina. That result was so unlikely that YouTuber Ellis Platten said it was one of the most incredible experiences of his life. But at the same time, Auckland only brought a few fans to the Club World Cup and the results in their other games were so one-sided that Boca had the slightly ridiculous task of needing to win 6-0 to have any chance of reaching the next round.

Auckland City is, despite being semi-professional and not even the biggest club in Auckland, the most dominant side in Oceania by far, winning all but two of the Oceania Champions League tournaments this decade, and it only had to play five games to win that competition this year. Perhaps, a qualification play-off against sides from other underrepresented regions could be fairer than giving Auckland City an automatic spot.

On the other hand, Al Ain, who lost heavily to Manchester City and Juventus, did have to beat Al Hilal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr to qualify, so maybe it is impossible to prevent all one-side games.

A Truly Global Club World Cup

Grafstrom says “It is no secret that there are imbalances in the level of professional club football in different parts of the World.” But he highlights the global nature of the tournament, saying 80 countries have played in the World Cup but at the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup, “players from nearly 90 different countries are set to play for the title” and “Billions of fans around the world could have the unique experience of seeing one of their compatriots claim the ultimate prize in club football.”

As if to prove that point, players from 38 different nations scored during the group stage.

Ahead of the 2025 Club World Cup, the narrative surrounding the tournament was overwhelmingly negative, but now that it is established, countries are queueing up to host the next tournament and clubs that didn’t qualify are asking for the tournament to be expanded.

If FIFA properly analyzes what went right and wrong this year, then perhaps it can change the narrative before the next Club World Cup.