Club World Cup

[BuryMeInEngland]

Chelsea's Club World Cup Opener Produces Shockingly Low Turnout

Chelsea kicked off their first match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in front of tens of thousands of empty seats.

www.si.com

"The poor attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium comes after FIFA drastically slashed prices for the opening fixture of the tournament between Inter Miami and Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium. FIFA even commissioned an affiliate deal with Miami Dade College to encourage students to buy tickets to see Lionel Messi at a discounted rate."

Pathetic.

 

[Dakes]

Probably cause those are all the true Chelsea supporters pre-Abramovich

 

[Dakes]

Chelsea's Club World Cup Opener Produces Shockingly Low Turnout

Chelsea kicked off their first match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in front of tens of thousands of empty seats.

www.si.com

"The poor attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium comes after FIFA drastically slashed prices for the opening fixture of the tournament between Inter Miami and Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium. FIFA even commissioned an affiliate deal with Miami Dade College to encourage students to buy tickets to see Lionel Messi at a discounted rate."

Pathetic.

Maybe FIFA should have the players wear NFL helmets next to gain appeal with a wider audience that side.

 

[Pochemon94]

Chelsea look cheeks lmfao

 

[amathews3416]

They had two teams, one of which a MLS team from opposite side of country, playing a game in the middle of the day during the work week. That was always going to fail.

 

[Hazelton]

If any of these clubs were smart, they'd send their first team on holiday now and use their reserves and youth players in this "competition". Treat it like the glorified friendly it is and take the money, don't ruin your pre-season and season, potentially.

 

[hellava_tough]

If any of these clubs were smart, they'd send their first team on holiday now and use their reserves and youth players in this "competition". Treat it like the glorified friendly it is and take the money, don't ruin your pre-season and season, potentially.

They might get sanctioned for that, i guess

 

[WorcesterTHFC]

They might get sanctioned for that, i guess

I believe FIFA has said that any club that refuses to take part in the CWC or sends a weakened team will face quite severe punishment.

 

[Cavehillspur]

I believe FIFA has said that any club that refuses to take part in the CWC or sends a weakened team will face quite severe punishment.

Twats

 

[teok]

J Wilson makes good points in his blog that was posted earlier. Just because things start off slowly, it doesn't mean they are a bad idea or won't go on to be successful. In the UK especially, we were very dismissive of the world cup and all the tournaments that went on to be staples of the sport now.

That said, I'm not watching any of these games and just checking the scores in the morning.

 

[tommyt]

J Wilson makes good points in his blog that was posted earlier. Just because things start off slowly, it doesn't mean they are a bad idea or won't go on to be successful. In the UK especially, we were very dismissive of the world cup and all the tournaments that went on to be staples of the sport now.

That said, I'm not watching any of these games and just checking the scores in the morning.

Which reminded me to check the score of Boca v Benfica...

 

[bigfrooj]

Chelsea's Club World Cup Opener Produces Shockingly Low Turnout

Chelsea kicked off their first match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in front of tens of thousands of empty seats.

www.si.com

"The poor attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium comes after FIFA drastically slashed prices for the opening fixture of the tournament between Inter Miami and Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium. FIFA even commissioned an affiliate deal with Miami Dade College to encourage students to buy tickets to see Lionel Messi at a discounted rate."

Pathetic.

There was a now deleted tweet apparently from ICE absolutely salivating at the prospect of thousands of Latinos massing in one place. They were going in ‘boots on’. The paying crowds in the US are predominantly from immigrant groups so ICE have completely killed the vibe. FIFA better hope there’s a change of government or president in the US before the World Cup.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

Hardly any games in MLS stadiums. Most stadiums used are 60-70k capacity. Clueless FIFA just looking for money.
In truth the attendances wouldn’t be much better if it was in this country.
Pointless exercise but no doubt they will tell us it’s been a great success .
Europe doesn’t want it but everywhere else does because they don’t have the money we do.
Or should I say England doesn’t want it

 

[Duffman]

if they wanted to fill that stadium yesterday, they should have invited the rest of the Chelsea Squad as guests.

 

[Trix]

There was a now deleted tweet apparently from ICE absolutely salivating at the prospect of thousands of Latinos massing in one place. They were going in ‘boots on’. The paying crowds in the US are predominantly from immigrant groups so ICE have completely killed the vibe. FIFA better hope there’s a change of government or president in the US before the World Cup.

If things don't improve out there I think it will be a monumental catastrophe of a tournament.

 

[elfy]

FIFA fail to spot the fatal flaw in their plan to extort more money from fans set up a meaningful competition.

Why would I watch?

The World Cup, I can put my arm around an Arsenal fan (I know, I know) and cheer on Saka - cos for 90 mins they are MY team.

Why would anyone who is not a fan of the club's taking part watch? Do they think we'll watch to cheer on club's from 'our' nations? Cos I'd take a rusty screwdriver to my bollocks before I'd support those Chelsea fucks!

 

[C0YS]

If any of these clubs were smart, they'd send their first team on holiday now and use their reserves and youth players in this "competition". Treat it like the glorified friendly it is and take the money, don't ruin your pre-season and season, potentially.

It's a lot of money, so don't think clubs would play weakened squads just for the sake of it. It's like 1 million per game won and serious money if you win the thibg. I think club owners, therefore, will want their teams to do well, regardless of what the coaching staff or players want.

 

[C0YS]

Ignoring the context and rationale for the tournament. From a purely footballing spectical prespective. At the moment my thoughts on the tournament are mixed.

I mean the good is to see just how passionate particularly Latin American fans are about the whole thing. Outside of Europe there is clearly a lot of enthusiasm for it. Regardless what we think about it here.

What is also good is that appart from Auckland (and Atletico ) it has been quite competitive. It is clear that the top Latin American sides can compete with, let's say, the teir below the super clubs of Europe. In this format (again the fact Europe has finished their season while it's the middle of the season for Latin American clubs helps even things out a little bit).

What's bad apart from organisational issues is that that are obvious, is the sheer size and scale of the tournament seems excessive. I think it may well run out of steam and fatigue will set in too for a lot of teams.

If you were to do a tournament like this properly starting with 16 teams would have made a lot more sense.

A lot of people are rightfully pointing out the absurdity of the tournament. I do think though that this tournament is actually likely to continue into the future, well at least as long as there is Saudi interest (who have a vested interest in the tournament, as I have said before, getting players into the Saudi league will be much easier if players recognize that they could be involved in tournaments such as these).

 

[BuryMeInEngland]

It's a lot of money, so don't think clubs would play weakened squads just for the sake of it. It's like 1 million per game won and serious money if you win the thibg. I think club owners, therefore, will want their teams to do well, regardless of what the coaching staff or players want.

Once again it's not about the beautiful game, it's only about the money. Club owners can all collectively fuck off.

 

[easley91]

FIFA fail to spot the fatal flaw in their plan to extort more money from fans set up a meaningful competition.

Why would I watch?

The World Cup, I can put my arm around an Arsenal fan (I know, I know) and cheer on Saka - cos for 90 mins they are MY team.

Why would anyone who is not a fan of the club's taking part watch? Do they think we'll watch to cheer on club's from 'our' nations? Cos I'd take a rusty screwdriver to my bollocks before I'd support those Chelsea fucks!

To be honest I watch because I just like football in general and can't wait until pre-season. And as weird as it may sound it gives me a chance to see teams I've never seen before.

You don't have to support a team to watch a football match. I didn't support either France or Spain but still enjoyed that for 90 minutes. You could even support who is playing Chelsea, like Lloris last night for example.