Dismal ticket sales, grumblings from fans and clubs – is FIFA’s latest attempt to establish a global club game doomed before it starts?

FIFA is hoping that Lionel Messi can draw the crowds. Megan Briggs/Getty Images

The FIFA World Club Cup, which kicks off in the U.S. on June 14, 2025, may seem like a new competition.

Certainly, soccer’s governing body, FIFA, is promoting it as is it were, marketing the monthlong competition between 32 of the world’s biggest soccer teams as the “pinnacle of club football,” with up to US$125 million in prize money for the winning team and $250 million set aside for promoting “football solidarity.”