The drama over the Club World Cup started in full back in June 2024. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti made his thoughts on the competition known.
"FIFA forgets that player and teams will not participate in the new Club World Cup. A single Real Madrid match is worth €20 million and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the entire tournament. Negative. Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation," he told Italian media.
That same day, both he and Madrid walked back the comments. Just kidding, the Club World Cup means a lot.
"Our club will compete, as planned, in this official competition that we face with pride and with the utmost enthusiasm to make our millions of fans around the world dream again with a new title," Madrid said in a statement.
And so began the debate over FIFA's revised club tournament, played out in the open. In the 12 months since, further questions have been raised - and FIFA has been relatively adamant it has the answers. Prize money? Lots of it. Tickets? Cheap(ish.) Publicity? Not a problem. Will fans care? Of course.
Some of the biggest names in the game will transplant to the United States next month. The event will be played in 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. cities, from the opener on June 14 until the final on July 13. Real Madrid and Man City are the early favorites, according to the oddsmakers, followed by PSG, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Inter Milan - major European clubs competing in America.
Top level men's soccer hasn't been this accessible in the U.S. since the 1994 World Cup.
More broadly, of course, this feels like a warmup for a far bigger event - the 2026 World Cup, in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Club World Cup has seemed hastily thrown together in some senses, but also well-executed at others. And although some of the messaging around it has been confusing, and its political implications are concerning, there is no doubt that soccer's governing body intends to make it a hallmark event and proof of concept for soccer in America.
The big question currently unanswered is simple: will it all work?