Fifa's Club World Cup gets ready to kick off despite pushback

In spite of opposition over player burnout and ticket woes, the governing body is pushing ahead with its bold new Club World Cup format.

- Yanga Sibembe

The preflight checks of the revamped Fifa Club World Cup have been anything but smooth. From player backlash for the addition of another major tournament in an already bloated schedule to unions taking world soccer governing body Fifa to court over player welfare, it's been a bumpy build-up.

The excitement Fifa was hoping for before the tournament has been absent so far and the organisers have even been forced to slash ticket prices because of slow sales.

Despite all the pushback and setbacks, as well as widespread accusations of unilaterally conceptualising the tournament, Fifa boss Gianni Infantino said he was excited to see what the rejigged World Cup could offer.

“Any club from anywhere in the world can dream [about] playing in the Club World Cup. And any player from anywhere in the world can dream about playing for one of these clubs because these are the best clubs in the world.

“The 32 best teams [in] the world ... will play to determine ... which will really be the best club in the world. You cannot be the best if you don't play against clubs from everywhere — the best clubs from everywhere,” said Infantino.

Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City are in by virtue of being crowned European champions between 2020 and 2024. Thanks to Madrid clinching it twice in that qualifying period, 2024 finalists Borussia Dortmund are also in.

Teams such as Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid, Porto, Benfica and Austria's RB Salzburg have qualified via the rankings system derived from their performances in European competition in the past four years.