The first edition of the 32 teams Club World Cup was closed on Sunday (13) with many lessons learned by organizer FIFA (International Football Federation), from the United States, won by Chelsea, serving as a preview of the 2026 World Cup.
A record of 48 teams will face the United States, Canada and Mexico co-anphitriás next year for the quadrennial show, with 104 program matches, only 64 the last time the tournament was held in 2022 at Qatar.
In advance, FIFA has expanded this year’s World Cup from Clubs to more than four times its original size, in a format that imitated what fans can expect next year.
“It’s a rehearsal for FIFA,” said Alan Rothenberg, former president of the United States Football Federation, which was responsible for supervising the World Cup the last time it was held in US territory in 1994.
“There were some mistakes and some problems at first, but presumably they learned the lesson on how to organize a tournament in several cities in our vast country. So I think it will be much quieter going forward in 2026, because now they have experience.”
The organizers have faced criticism of players, fans and coaches for a number of issues, from the conditions of the lawns to the programming and the heat, with some games made for crowded stands and others for scarce public roasting at temperatures of 29 ° C or more.
The Global Players Union, Fifpro, said the heat, in particular, should “serve as a warning,” with organizers pressed to schedule matches earlier on the day to accommodate the extraordinary scale of the tournament.
Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández described temperatures as “very dangerous” to play.
“All the criticism we receive are a source for studying, analyzing and seeing what we can do best,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told reporters before the final.
“Of course, heat is definitely a problem. It’s a problem around the world.”
Infantino said the 2026 tournament will use stadiums with coverage and air conditioning to accommodate more daytime games. Of the 16 stadiums of the World Cup, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Vancouver have coverage.
“We need to analyze what we can do best. We introduced intervals for cooling. Obviously, it is very important to water the field. We can see how we can do things better in the United States and also in Canada next year in Vancouver,” Infantino said.
FIFA is taking on greater operational control over the 2026 tournament compared to previous editions, said Rothenberg, who is now president of Premier Partnerships, a playfly Sports division.
“I don’t think they have done it (the Club World Cup) as an experiment, but it’s proving to be a great experience for FIFA going forward,” said Rothenberg, whose next book, “The Big Bounce,” explores football popularity in the United States.
“Historical Event”
The entity that runs world football has set foot on the United States in preparation for the World Cup, installing offices in Miami and Trump Tower in New York.
United States President Donald Trump was present to deliver the trophy at Metlife Stadium to Chelsea after the Premier League team defeated Paris St Germain 3-0 in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
From January to the end of next year’s tournament, FIFA will maintain a transmission center of nearly 150,000 square meters in Dallas.
A smaller version was used in the Metlife Stadium parking lot for the Club World Cup.
“This is not a test – we will have a lot of learning with 2025, but this is a historic event for us,” said Oscar Sanchez, head of production for the transmission, to reporters.
“It’s huge – but 2026 is gigantic.”
Metlife Stadium, which hosted the Sunday final, is scheduled to host the 2026 World Cup final, with research ongoing to optimize the conditions of the lawn in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Despite efforts, including transportation shorts at night in refrigerated trucks, club cup stadiums have received criticism from coaches and players for the quality of the lawn.
“We will make a report after this tournament and take the lessons to 2026,” said Blair Christensen, manager responsible for the lawns.
“These guys here who work on the lawn with me are much sharper and better than they were 35 days ago and we will take it ahead for next year as well.”
