WHAT HAPPENED
The Club World Cup concluded Sunday, with Chelsea topping PSG 3-0 in the final at MetLife Stadium. MLS Commissioner Don Garber praised the tournament, saying in a statement that it was an “incredible success."
Garber added that month-long tournament was "a proud moment for everyone involved in soccer across North America. Gianni Infantino had a bold vision, and FIFA delivered a remarkable event. This was a defining moment for the sport. I’m proud of how our country showed up at every level for the Club World Cup. A lot of the future growth in global soccer is happening right here in the United States and across North America. The Club World Cup showcased that."
Former Premier League Shaka Hislop wasn't quite as effusive in his praise for the tournament.
“It’s been more successful than I was expecting, I’ll hold my hands up and admit to that,” Hislop said on the Futbol Americas podcast. “Whether I’ll go as far as to say it’s been an 'incredible success?' I’m not entirely sold on that... Let’s say PSG have an injury crisis in six months time, how will they reflect on this summer? And there’s a lot of unknowns that we’re still trying to work through for the European clubs, never mind what comes in six months time.
"How do PSG and Chelsea negotiate these next few weeks? They’ve been playing for the last three or four weeks, now you’ve got a month before the domestic league campaign starts.
Next Match
Hislop noted that most European teams have already started their preseason camps, while Chelsea and PSG have only just finished the 2024-25 campaign.
“Do you rest? Do you keep things ticking over?" he said. "I just feel like they’re a lot of unknowns about this tournament that, certainly to the European clubs, I’m not sure how they’ll navigate and we won’t know how successful that navigation is for another six or nine months time. So I hold my position in waiting to see that but as of right now, it was more successful than I expected. But, still I’m not falling out of my chair like Don Garber.”
WHAT HERCULEZ GOMEZ SAID
Former USMNT player Herculez Gomez acknowledged the tournament's overall quality, but specifically challenged Garber's characterization.
"What people hate about this tournament are the North American things," Gomez said. "The grass over field turf, the rain delays with thunderstorms, the heat, the time, all these things, those are the things they don’t like about this... the CWC is fantastic idea, football for all. There should be a place where Auckland City gets to play against Boca, where Auckland City has the opportunity to tie Boca and yes, Auckland City has the opportunity to get dropped 10 by Bayern Munich.
“That’s part of it as well. What they don’t like are the American things that come with it. So it’s a ‘Get Lost’ to Don Garber because as Americans, the world doesn’t revolve around us. Football doesn’t revolve around us, what people don’t like about this tournament are very American things. The tournament as a whole is unbelievable."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup represents FIFA's ambitious expansion of the tournament from its previous format to a 32-team competition held every four years.
WHAT’S NEXT?
With less than a year to the 2026 World Cup, North America will already be preparing for that 48-team event, to be hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.