How The FIFA Club World Cup Has Been a Disappointing Bore

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The FIFA Club World Cup was supposed to be a global celebration of football—where the best teams from every continent meet to determine the true kings of the club game. Instead, it has become a dull, bloated formality, offering little more than a glorified pre-season exercise for European giants and a forgettable experience for everyone else.

From the outset, the idea held promise. Who wouldn’t want to see the Copa Libertadores champions battle it out with Europe’s finest? Or a surprise package from Asia or Africa stunning the world? But reality has been far less romantic. The European champions have dominated the tournament almost without exception. Since 2007, only once has a non-European team lifted the trophy—Corinthians in 2012. The rest of the time, it’s been an exhibition of European superiority, usually capped off with a half-hearted 1–0 or 2–0 win in a final few actually watch.

Part of the issue is timing. The Club World Cup falls awkwardly into the European calendar, often in December. It disrupts domestic league rhythms and doesn't attract the kind of intensity you'd find in a Champions League knockout game or even a fierce Premier League mid-table scrap. Players look jet-lagged and disinterested. Managers rotate squads. Fans barely register it’s happening. It feels like an obligation more than a pinnacle.

Another major flaw is structure. The tournament is top-heavy, with European and South American champions entering at the semi-final stage, practically gifted a final appearance. The early rounds feel like a regional qualifying event dressed up as global competition. What’s worse, the underdog stories rarely get the traction they deserve. Even when African or Asian sides punch above their weight, the narrative gets lost in a wave of indifference.

FIFA, in typical fashion, believes the solution is to make it bigger. Their latest masterstroke? A 32-team Club World Cup starting in 2025. That’s right—more games, more travel, more corporate filler. If the current version is a yawn, what happens when you stretch it over several weeks and flood it with dead rubbers?

Compare this to the UEFA Champions League—flawed as it may be, it's rich with identity, history, and stakes. Even the Copa Libertadores, with all its chaos and wild atmospheres, carries more emotional weight. The Club World Cup has no mythology, no iconic moments, no legacy. Can you name who won it three years ago? Or even remember the last final? Exactly.

Football deserves a true global tournament, but the Club World Cup, as it stands and as it’s planned, is not it. Until FIFA figures out how to give it meaning, competitive balance, and compelling narratives, it will remain what it has always been: a boring sideshow nobody asked for.

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