The number of exciting matches at the FIFA Club World Cup is too small - Photo: REUTERS
In fact, no match was as exciting as fans expected, starting from the semi-finals.
Bland professional quality
Chelsea easily beat Fluminense because of the huge difference in strength. PSG destroyed Real Madrid in more than 20 minutes due to individual mistakes. In the final, PSG was the team that Chelsea destroyed in just one half. The three matches that were supposed to be the pinnacle of the tournament completely lost the dramatic element.
There are many reasons to explain PSG's rapid collapse. First is physical strength. PSG had a crazy season when they had to play a total of about 15 "big" matches in just four months, facing Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Inter Milan (in the Champions League) to Atletico, Botafogo, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid (FIFA Club World Cup).
There is no denying that Chelsea deserved to win. But Chelsea really had a huge advantage in terms of schedule. They did not have to work hard in the Champions League last season. And luckily fell into an easy schedule in the US when the big teams were continuously eliminated.
The football feast that FIFA promised was ultimately just a series of sporadic, infrequent matches. Most of the big teams were unable to perform at their peak due to exhaustion after a long season, as well as FIFA’s controversial organization. Can you name any truly spectacular matches from the FIFA Club World Cup? Very few: Al Hilal defeated Man City, Flamengo beat Chelsea…
195 goals were scored in 63 games, an average of 3.1 goals per game. A very high number, but don't let that fool you, because a lot of goals doesn't mean that football is interesting. There were 13 games that ended with a difference of 3 goals or more. And most of them came from one-sided destructions, like Auckland City losing 0-10 to Bayern Munich, losing 0-6 to Benfica. Then Inter Miami was crushed by PSG 4 goals in just one half.
The FIFA Club World Cup is reminiscent of the World Cups of the 1990s and early 2000s, when FIFA expanded to 32 teams. Back then, the gap between Europe and South America and Asia-Oceania, North and Central America was as wide as the sky. But today, that gap is so narrow that even Saudi Arabia could beat champions Argentina.
Too many problems
The problem of skill disparity is inevitable when Korean, Japanese or African clubs are much weaker than their national teams. But FIFA may have made a mistake in trying to "level" the tournament to limit the number of European representatives.
First is the number of participating places, only 12 European teams, while the World Cup has always given 13 places to Europe (before increasing to 48 teams from 2026). Next is the regulation that each country can participate with a maximum of two clubs. With this regulation, FIFA has directly eliminated Liverpool, Barca, Napoli, Leverkusen from the tournament. And replaced them with weak teams like Salzburg or Porto.
Only the continental champions will not be bound by the two-club maximum rule. This may seem fair, but it is not, as competition in European football is much fiercer than in other regions.
For example, Brazil has dominated the Copa Libertadores (South America's championship, equivalent to Europe's Champions League) for many consecutive years, leading to them having four representatives in the FIFA Club World Cup.
The big European teams couldn’t get a ticket. And the rest had to endure 2-3 weeks of absurd torture in the US. From the weather, the pitch, the organization to the midday match time - all the factors were against the stars of top football. And that was the basis for the teams from South America or from the Middle East to create a surprise.
Was it dramatic football? Certainly not. Real football was Morocco’s beautiful adventure at the 2022 World Cup, when they defeated both Spain and Portugal. In matches with few goals but still full of excitement such as the fiery spirit of Japan, Korea or the enchanting dances of African teams.
Without that, the FIFA Club World Cup is just a series of arguments and frustrations. If the tournament is still the same in four years, fans will have their choice.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/fifa-club-world-cup-co-tuong-lai-2025071610444324.htm
Comment (0)