For the first four weeks of the 2025 Club World Cup, there had been the danger that the tournament would soon be largely forgotten. There is no danger of that after the final. There had been unease after the 2022 World Cup final at the way Qatar inserted itself into the trophy presentation by draping a bisht over Lionel Messi, but at least the Emir kept his distance. Donald Trump, by contrast, placed himself front and centre of the celebrations – and he was soon joined by the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, who has a pathological fear of missing out, and must follow his great ally in all things.
And so we were presented with a grimly perfect image of this misguided tournament, a celebrating football team struggling to be seen from behind the politicians who took centre stage. The confusion of Cole Palmer and Reece James at Trump’s continued presence was clear. History, and not just football history, will not forget such shameless grandstanding, or Fifa’s complicity in allowing football to be hijacked by a national leader.
