3 things learned from FIFA Club World Cup

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has ended as Chelsea emerged as champions of the expanded version of the tournament with a convincing 3-0 win over reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in front of a packed MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey on Sunday afternoon. President of the United States, Donald Trump, was in attendance as the Blues outclassed the tournament’s favorites, PSG, to win their second FIFA Club World Cup title.

For the first time, 32 teams competed in the tournament across 12 venues in 11 cities in the United States from June 14 to July 13, as the 2024/2025 football season officially comes to a close. Despite criticisms from the media, former coaches, and fans considering the timing of the tournament, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup witnessed a very impressive turnout, with competitive football, especially from the European and South American teams, and huge financial incentives for all the teams.

This post documents three lessons from the just-concluded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

3 things learned from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

1. European Dominance but Competitiveness from other teams

European teams, as expected, dominated the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, with three teams: Real Madrid, PSG, and the eventual champions, Chelsea, qualified for the semi-finals. However, during the tournament, other teams from South America and Asia proved their worth. Flamengo was the only team that defeated Chelsea, while Al Hilal, the Saudi Pro League side, knocked out a star-studded Manchester City out of the competition in the second round in a 4-3 thriller. Botafogo also beat PSG in the group stage to create the first upset of the tournament. Even though the gap between the European teams and others appears to be evident, the FIFA World Cup has shown that teams outside of Europe can also be competitive with a different approach to football.

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2. Breathtaking Attacking Football

Despite weather challenges, which resulted in stoppages in some matches, the competition witnessed a lot of goals, as exemplified in the final between Chelsea and PSG. A total of 195 goals were scored in the 29 days of the football fest. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup witnessed an average of 3.1 goals per match, with some matches having as many as eight goals. Bayern Munich scored the highest number of goals in a single match in the tournament as the Bavarians thrashed Auckland City 10-0 in their opening match. Inter Miami and FC Porto treated fans at the MetLife Stadium to an eight-goal spectacle in the final match of Group A, while Al Hilal shocked Manchester City 4-3 in the second round.

3. Financial Incentives and Fan Attendance

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup had a prize money $1 billion, with Chelsea pocketing $125 million as winners. Oceania’s Auckland City and other top European teams received guaranteed payments ranging from $3.58 to $38 million. A solidarity payment of $250 million will also be provided to clubs around the world for inclusivity and the development of football. This is in addition to the prize money for the participating teams.

Fan turnout at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was quite impressive, with an average of 38,887 attendees per game. Although some matches witnessed low attendance due to kick-off times and a reported hike in ticket prices. Nonetheless, as the competition got to the knock-out stages, most of the stadiums had close to their full capacities.

A good number of cities and stadiums that hosted matches in the competition will do the same in next summer’s FIFA World Cup. It is expected that organisers document some of the challenges witnessed and provide adequate solutions ahead of the World Cup.