FFT'S GUIDE TO THE CLUB WORLD CUP

On June 14, a new 32-team tournament kicks off when Lionel Messi's Inter Miami take on Al Ahly of Egypt. After a great deal of scepticism, can it establish itself as one of football's most prestigious events?

- Words Chris Flanagan

Gianni Infantino had been FIFA president for a mere nine months when he unveiled his grand vision. "Today, football is not just about Europe and South America," he declared in November 2016. "The world has changed, and we need to make the Club World Cup more interesting for teams, and also for fans around the world. We are trying to create a tournament that's more attractive, with more quality and more clubs. It will attract more sponsors, and television companies from around the world."

Soon, the Confederations Cup was no more. Traditionally held a year before the World Cup as an eight-country test event for the host nation, it had its final edition in Russia in 2017. In its place this summer, four years later than planned, comes the new 32-team Club World Cup, held across 29 days in the USA ahead of their co-hosting of the 2026 World Cup. The expanded Club World Cup was supposed to launch in China in 2021, only for COVID-19 to intervene.

The seven-team format, with just the champions from each continent, was huge in South America but didn't catch the imagination of many others beyond the clubs competing in it. Held annually, usually in December, it had to battle for attention with the domestic season and felt like an afterthought when compared with the UEFA Champions League final more than six months earlier. Infantino felt that if the competition to determine the best international team on the planet was both much-anticipated and lucrative, then club football's equivalent deserved the same treatment.