FIFA Club World Cup kicks off: Analysis of the highlights of the 21st century

When football kicks off in the mid-circle at Miami Hard Rock Stadium, the United States will historicly become the first host of the most important football event in the 21st century. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (June 14-July 13) is undoubtedly the boldest attempt of FIFA in recent years - the first time adopts a four-year competition system with 32 teams participating in the competition, and continues to use the 1998-2022 National Team World Cup model: 4 teams in each group, the top two in the group advanced to the top 16, and then a single knockout match was held. 32 teams will participate in the FIFA World Cup in 2025. The competition system will be repeated every four years. The huge commercial cake and ticket sales concerns

FIFA predicted in its financial report released in April 2025 that the event will contribute US$21.1 billion to global GDP, and US$9.6 billion alone. The total prize pool for the event is as high as US$1 billion, and the champion can monopolize US$125 million, which is an important "blood-making" opportunity for clubs in developing countries with weak financial resources. The

broadcasting rights were taken by DAZN, and the platform will broadcast all 63 games for free, and FIFA has earned about US$1.05 billion. Although the official estimates that the global audience will be close to 3.7 million, a few days before the opening, ticketing platform Ticketmaster showed that there were still a large number of spare tickets in multiple games, and the initial sales price of some games plummeted: the lowest ticket price for the opening match of International Miami against Egypt Al Ahli was reduced to $69 (originally higher), the lowest ticket for Paris Saint-Germain against Atletico Madrid was $61, the ticket price for Real Madrid's first match against Saudi Riyadh Crescent starts at $265, and the Boca Youth against Benfica is even as low as $41. Under the dynamic pricing mechanism, ticket buyers may receive lower discounts when the game is in progress, and the high-priced initial sales strategy may have discouraged some fans. In addition, club events are different from national team events, and the financial capabilities and timing of the fans are more limited, which may also affect the number of viewers on site. The

match will kick off at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami

Challenge the impossible task of "David defeats Goliath"

The tournament qualification system brings together the world's top teams, and the American powerhouses such as Miami, River Plate, and Boca Youth led by Messi will talk to European giants. But the dominance of European teams can be seen with the naked eye: According to Transfermarkt data, Paris Saint-Germain's entire team is worth more than $1 billion, while Brazil's latest Libertadoes Cup champion Brazil Bottafogo is only $183 million, Real Madrid is the most valuable team for the event with $1.5 billion, and Latin American top star Palmeiras is only $288 million. More importantly, Latin American geniuses are often poached by European clubs - such as River Plate Rising Star Franco Mastatuno was acquired by Real Madrid after playing 49 games for his parent team. This event will be his farewell battle before he went abroad.

For South American fans, the old Intercontinental Cup (Champions League Champions League vs. Liberators Cup) was once a spiritual sustenance of "beating the strong with weak", but the new competition system requires Latin American teams to defeat multiple European powerhouses in a row to win the championship, and the difficulty has increased significantly. Former Inter Milan star Zanetti said the new game system "may help narrow the gap and benefit all clubs", but the reality gap is still in front of us. The Argentine River Plate team is one of the teams that attract Latin American audiences in this event. The Invisible Killer under the intensive schedule poses a severe test for the physical fitness of the giants. Paris Saint-Germain player Bradley Bacola played 3,643 minutes last season and played 58 games; Champions League teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester City have participated in about 50 games a year, and with 10 to 12 national team games, the player load has reached its limit. Legendary forward Ronaldo joked: "If I participate in the competition, the holiday will probably be a few days short." He said even more bluntly: "Players complain about the increase in injuries and the demand is high, and we must listen." FIFA's only adjustment is to cancel the third and fourth finals. Chairman Infantino said that "the schedule and the health of the players have been carefully considered", but the core contradictions of intensive events have not been resolved.

"Best Team" are all listed?

The qualification system of this event has been criticized: Chelsea participated in the 2021 Champions League title, but its Premier League rankings are only 12th, 6th and 4th in the past three seasons, and its lineup is very different from when it won the championship four years ago. The latest Premier League champion Liverpool and La Liga champion Barcelona were not shortlisted - this exposed the disconnect between the qualification rules and the team's current strength.

Despite the coexistence of controversy and challenges, FIFA's gamble has begun. Perhaps in a few years, the club will begin to embroider the "world champion" star on the jerseys, and this event may also become an important yardstick for fans to debate the "world's best club". Nowadays, audiences only need to prepare seats and wait for this football feast to take place.

Source: AFP (AFP), AP (AP), CNN Sports (CNN Sports Channel)