“At Trump Tower, the new home of FIFA in Manhattan, Gianni Infantino hailed the Club World Cup a ‘huge, huge, huge success’ on Saturday. The president of soccer’s world governing body later posted on Instagram that the tournament had ‘taken over the United States and united people in joy’. FIFA has been on a victory lap since Chelsea’s 3-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s final in front of an 81,118 crowd at MetLife Stadium, a few miles to the west in New Jersey. … Dynamic pricing and empty seats. FIFA adopted a dynamic pricing approach to tickets, where prices fluctuate according to supply and demand. For high-interest sports and music events, this can lead to prices skyrocketing in value but during the Club World Cup, where not a single game was a complete sellout, these costs often tumbled instead due to a lack of demand. … Similar deals emerged with different universities during the tournament as FIFA scrambled to avoid tens of thousands of empty seats becoming a regular occurrence. The group-stage games recorded an average of 35,000 spectators, but the size of the venues chosen — largely NFL stadiums with capacities of more than 60,000 — left big gaps in the stands. The dynamic-pricing market made for some absurd fluctuations. Standard admission pricing for the semi-final between Chelsea and Brazil’s Fluminense at MetLife was reduced to just $13.40 on the weekend before last Tuesday’s match, having been priced at $473.90 less than 72 hours earlier. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
Guardian: Trump’s presence at Chelsea’s trophy lift was a fitting coda to a misguided tournament – Jonathan Wilson
Empty seats were an issue at Club World Cup games
World Cup 2026: What lessons can be learnt from the Club World Cup?
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“As the realities faded from what this summer was supposed to be into what it was going to be, the goal of the tournament for the United States men’s national team never truly shifted. The Gold Cup was meant to be the month when Mauricio Pochettino and his staff finally got some time with the group that they would lead into next year’s home World Cup. … On Sunday night in Houston, a group of players who have used this summer to try to force their way into the World Cup picture will get that chance against rivals Mexico. After 
“This is where the Club World Cup gets serious. Football’s new-look global competition may not have convinced every sceptic so far, but the line-up for the last eight offers an intriguing mixture of European aristocrats, Brazilian excellence and even an outsider in 
“FIFA president Gianni Infantino has received a letter signed by over 90 civil society groups, the majority of which are based in the United States, expressing ‘deep concern’ about immigration policies and enforcement measures in the U.S. and their potential impact on the 
“As temperatures rose towards 90F at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium on Saturday while Borussia Dortmund played South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, the German team posted on social media: ‘Our subs watched the first half from inside the locker room to avoid the blazing sun — never seen that before, but in this heat, it absolutely makes sense.’ The message was accompanied by a picture of players who would usually be pitchside instead sitting in shorts and T-shirts around a table stocked with drinks. Players, coaches and supporters were already concerned about high temperatures during matches in the opening week of the Club World Cup, and now 
“This is a public service announcement. You may think that this Club World Cup is an American affair. You probably looked at the list of host cities, saw FIFA president Gianni Infantino 
“The 
“Timothy Weah sounded like someone who felt he had been ambushed. ‘It was all a surprise to me, honestly,’ the United States national-team player told reporters of 
“FIFA’s latest attempts to fill Hard Rock Stadium for the Club World Cup opening match between Inter Miami and Egyptian team Al-Ahly involve offering students at an affiliated local college a single ticket for $20 — but with the promise of up to four complimentary tickets. The Athletic last week revealed the launch game, which takes place on Saturday night, still had tens of thousands of tickets unsold for a match likely to star Lionel Messi for MLS side Inter Miami. Hard Rock Stadium has a capacity of 65,326. FIFA denied that fewer than 20,000 tickets had been sold for the match — insisting the number was ‘much higher’ — but they did not specify the number. …”
“The Club World Cup begins on Saturday, June 14, when Inter Miami take on Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. How will Lionel Messi and friends get on? Are they likely to get out of Group A? And what about Real Madrid? The world’s biggest club have replaced Carlo Ancelotti with Xabi Alonso, their former midfielder, and signed Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen in the mini transfer window before the tournament. 
“Brace yourselves, the World Cup countdown officially starts…now. … Having 16 more teams means even more of the globe’s best players can showcase their talents on the biggest stage, but who do we expect to be the protagonists next summer? Some names might be obvious, others might not have even earned their first international cap or play for countries whose qualification hangs in the balance. It’s a tricky assignment, but it is fun to try. So, almost one year out, this is The Athletic’s shortlist of those predicted — or expected — to light up World Cup 2026. …”
“On Wednesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a 
“European members of the FIFA council staged a dramatic walkout at the world governing body’s congress following the late arrival of President Gianni Infantino. The eight UEFA members of the FIFA council and several European delegates did not return to Thursday’s conference centre in Paraguay, including UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and the English Football Association (FA) president Debbie Hewitt. The exit followed a three-hour delay to the congress, because FIFA president Infantino was late arriving for his own event on Thursday morning, having prioritised meetings with United States president Donald Trump in Doha and Qatar this week. This included rescheduling the FIFA council, which should have been in person in Paraguay on Tuesday, but was instead held virtually last Friday. …”
“It was referred to as the darkest period in Mexican football history. Following Mexico’s exit in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Mexico lost to the U.S. 2-0 in the semifinals of the Concacaf Nations League in 2023. Before that, El Tri had lost to the Americans in the 2019 Nations League final, and also suffered a defeat in Cincinnati in 2021 during the World Cup qualifiers prior to Qatar. Shortly before the 2022 World Cup, then-Mexico federation president Yon de Luisa fired his entire sporting department in what was viewed as a last-gasp effort to change the national team’s direction prior to the tournament. Yet Mexico crashed out, snapping a streak of seven straight knockout-stage berths, while the U.S. escaped its group. El Tri were no longer the Kings of Concacaf. Instead, they were forced to look up at their most bitter rivals, as the U.S. celebrated an unprecedented run of success against their neighbors to the south. …”
“Arturo Sarukhán, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States between 2007 and 2013, is recalling the earliest conversations that took place over a bid for the United States and Mexico to co-host a men’s soccer World Cup. … Sarukhán’s logic? This would be a World Cup with no need for the construction of white-elephant stadiums. His underlying reason? To make a powerful statement to Mexicans and Americans. The ambition extended further when Canada was invited to join the 2026 ‘United’ bid that in 2018 secured hosting rights for 2026. Seven years on, however, and 15 months out from the tournament’s opening game, Sarukhán is alarmed by the geo-political situation that has gripped North America and its neighbors since Donald Trump began a second term as U.S. president in January. …”
“One of the most successful and lucrative commercial rights partnerships in football is ending. On Tuesday, it was announced that 
“Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the US captured global attention, signaling a monumental shift in both American and international politics. Sitting among some of the wealthiest people on the planet was FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and his presence has raised eyebrows. In the weeks following the inauguration, Infantino has posted about Trump on Instagram more than any other world leader. Under normal circumstances, this might not seem unusual, given that the US is set to host the FIFA Club World Cup later this year and will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. …”
“… Hello! 
“The history of soccer in the United States is littered with failed leagues, all attempting to do the same thing: Americanize the world’s game. For nearly a century, proponents of the sport in the U.S. altered the long-standing rules of the game to make it more high-scoring, more action-packed, less… foreign. Some of those rule changes and innovations — the use of substitutes, for example, or the backpass law — were truly groundbreaking and 
“It is a rarity to see 
“The Copa America final could not have been set up any better. Defending champions 
“For just over six minutes, it looked as though the 
“With 
“In Christian Pulisic’s diverse range of USMNT highlights, one thing is hard to spot: a smile. Since making his senior international debut as a 17-year-old in March 2016, his efforts have frequently been met with frustration. As a program prodigy, he was on the field in Trinidad the following year when the United States failed to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since Ronald Reagan was president. The man couldn’t even properly celebrate his long-awaited first World Cup goal in 2022; his effort to nudge the ball beyond Iran’s goalline left him in a crumpled heap as he suffered a pelvic contusion during that incident. …”
Scissors Kick 