The United States will be the stage from this Saturday (14) of the FIFA Club World Cup, the first tournament of the type in its expanded version, with 32 teams. The start will be given with the duel between Al Ahly, from Egypt, and Inter Miami – which has Lionel Messi as a great star – from 21h (Brasília time).
The final is scheduled for July 13 at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, Super Bowl, the largest US sporting event, with three musical attractions in the break: American Doja Cat, Colombian J Balvin and Nigerian Temps.
The country hosts the event amid the hardening of US immigration policies, with the promise of US President Donald Trump, of making the greatest mass deportation in history, as well as friction that he has accumulated with neighboring countries –Canada and Mexico – and other nations worldwide.
The inaugural match takes place the same week that Trump lives clashes with California governor Gavin Newsom for anti-immigration protests that began in Los Angeles. As showed by The New York Times, immigrants are afraid of being the target of immigration. Brazilian Flamengo fans who organize meetings to watch games, for example, canceled the meetings. The Republican also prohibited travelers from 12 countries.
Trump maintains a close relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and has exalted the size of the club cup and its importance to the country. The tournament will serve as a warming for the 2026 World Cup, also based in the United States, in conjunction with Canada and Mexico.
One of FIFA’s challenges will be to engage the American fan himself within a country whose interest in football is less than in other sports. According to Gallup survey published in 2024, football was chosen by 41% of Americans as the favorite sport in the country. Baseball (10%) and basketball (9%) next. Already football has only 5%.
Brazil has four teams in the tournament: Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras. The dispute will be held similar to the World Cup, that is, divided by phases and groups. In the initial phase, there will be eight groups with four representatives each. Two teams from each group advance to the round of 16.
There will be 63 matches, played in 12 stadiums divided by 11 host cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington DC.
This week, in Miami, where the opening will be, Infantino exalted the unprecedented and the potential of the championship. “We are making history here in North America. We are making history here in Miami from June 14. For the first time in history, the 32 best clubs in the world will compete in a tournament to finally determine what is the best club in the world,” Infantino said.
The speech was made while he also featured the tournament trophy, which represents Big Bang, according to the leader, to represent “past, present and future.”
Tourists started to reach the United States this week for the games. The ticket pace of tickets has frustrated FIFA. The value of the tickets ranges from US $ 33.45 to US $ 635.50 (from R $ 185.50 to R $ 3,524), increasing as the tournament approaches the final. Frustration with the sale of tickets led the entity to reduce the price of some matches.
The championship will have a total prize of US $ 1 billion (R $ 5.8 billion in the current price). As a comparison, the total award of the Qatar World Cup in 2022 was US $ 440 million (R $ 2.5 billion).
Trump and Infantino were together at least seven times this year. The most recent was during the first international trip since taking office, to Saudi Arabia.
The relationship has received criticism of what is seen as a risk to FIFA’s political independence, while Trump takes advantage of projection around a sport acclaimed around the world.
In a meeting with Infantino, Trump praised the potential especially of next year’s World Cup, making comparisons with the Super Bowl, the largest sporting event in the US.
“We have ten million tickets for sale – it’s like three Super Bowls a day for a month,” Infantino said.
Trump added, “I loved what he said – three Super Bowls a day for a month. That’s exactly that. It’s amazing when you think about it, I’ve never heard that expression. It’s a lot.”
