Forget about the golden era, Gianni: The Club World Cup is taking football into a dark age

The Club World Cup, founded by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, concludes with the final between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. The past five weeks have demonstrated how a vision can become a dystopia.

Donald Trump won't miss that. After all, the US President is a true soccer fan. So, of course, he'll be there when the beginning of football's "golden era" comes to an end with the final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (9 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) . This Sunday, the first FIFA Club World Cup contested by 32 clubs comes to an end. The final is in New Jersey. Everyone is there, including for the superlative 15-minute halftime show high above the pitch. Another innovation that will be eagerly commented on and discussed. Every interaction is a good interaction.

In FIFA's PR language, what will happen sounds like this: "This Sunday, New York/New Jersey will become a global hotspot for football and music. The highly anticipated FIFA Club World Cup™ Final between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium will offer fans world-class football and a non-stop spectacle lasting over four hours." This is followed by lengthy explanations, quotes, and words about love and music. Then it says: "All of the day's programs will culminate in a celebratory medal ceremony for the first winner of the new FIFA Club World Cup™, capping a Final that redefines the meaning of club football."

With this crowning achievement, the "most successful club competition in the world" to date comes to an end. This was the claim made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is sometimes prone to exaggeration, during a media round at Trump Tower on Saturday. Several FIFA legends were lined up next to him.

The story of the end of Europe

For football fans in Germany, five weeks full of background noise from one of the three host countries of the 2026 World Cup come to an end on Sunday. They really only wanted to follow the transfer news and the U21 and women's tournaments. If at all. Sometimes no football is actually quite good. How everything is more attractive when it's not constantly available.

The Club World Cup, it's safe to say, was a tournament that never captured the hearts of fans in Germany. It wasn't rejected because it was new, but because it was seen as the culmination of a megalomania that was increasingly disturbing to the public. The wonderful idea of finding the best club team in the world in a real tournament with teams from all over the world degenerated into a tournament full of greed, politics, and reprimands. All of this ran into the public's already existing disenchantment with the game's institutions and power players.

The lament from the German club representatives was loud, clear, and unmistakable: The fans in Germany, but also in England, should be interested in the tournament. Otherwise, what? There was no answer. Only context: Anything other than enthusiasm was European arrogance. Europe must finally realize that football doesn't belong only to Europe, but to all people in the world.

It was a narrative similar to the one Gianni Infantino had hinted at at the end of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Formulated by the FIFA President, it was an act of violence in Qatar. He drove European football into the ground. Formulated by the European club representatives, it was a very weak and, moreover, very strange narrative. Was this still about the interests of the clubs and their supporters?

A brief history of the seizure of power

It's telling that Paris Saint-Germain, a team that embodies this contradiction between wonderful football and the all-encompassing destruction of the old game, is about to reach its peak. The club is a global marketing corporation financed by Qatar. But it is now also fulfilling on the pitch the promise that the PSG brand, with its numerous faces and streetwear, has made off the pitch over the years.

Paris Saint-Germain, with Qatar's entry outside of England in the early 2010s, set the trendsetter for state influence in the football market. In England, final opponents Chelsea, with Roman Abramovich, opened the door in the 2000s, which then led to the United Arab Emirates' involvement with Manchester City and, much later, Saudi Arabia's involvement with Newcastle. They were joined by US investor groups across Europe, such as Fenway with Liverpool, RedBird CapitalPartner with Milan, and Abramovich's successor Todd Boehly with Clearlake Capital with Chelsea. They divide the top clubs among themselves.

Football as an instrument of power

It's no different at the association level: Infantino and his fellow campaigners in the continental associations have long since handed football over to the care of those antagonists who will eviscerate the game down to its last emotion and later carelessly discard it. The modern rulers of the game use the passion of their fans as an instrument of power. Once committed to football, it's hard to escape this soap opera with its countless live events. They use clubs to gain visibility. They use sport to secure their social standing internally. They become visible, demonstrate strength, and evade the consequences of their actions.

All of this applies to Qatar (with Paris Saint-Germain) and the United Arab Emirates (including the City Football Group around Manchester City). All of this applies even more to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which acted as a sponsor of the Club World Cup and executed Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser on the opening day of the tournament. He was convicted of "terrorism and treason charges" in 2018, the same year that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was sawed in half and dissolved in acid in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Benefactor Saudi Arabia

At the Club World Cup in the USA, Saudi Arabia emerged as the major benefactor. When FIFA was having trouble awarding the TV rights, DAZN suddenly offered one billion US dollars. A short time later, Saudi Arabia joined DAZN, and the kingdom was awarded the 2034 World Cup by digital acclamation. Shortly before the start of the tournament, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF also joined as a sponsor of the tournament. So many coincidences.

DAZN showed all of the tournament's matches behind a paywall. The figures aren't available. The TV experience, however, is. It certainly corresponds to what fans of modern football expect. In every game, at least the world is at stake; there's no criticism of the system; everything is always breathtaking. The protagonists simply love the game. Players and coaches signed their gigantic contracts solely out of love for the next challenge, for the next step in their careers. And not for the €25 million annually that the club pays them in compensation.

When substitutions are made in these Club World Cup matches, the TV commentators are silent and the advertising takes over. Commercialism also reigned during the cooling breaks. It was a bleak prospect for the long-running commercials to come during top matches. Once a door is opened, it won't close again.

On-site, the players struggled with the sometimes extreme heat, and FIFA struggled with empty stadiums. The world governing body had entered the battle for attention in the USA with far too high price expectations. Because Europe also wanted to get a taste of the tournament, the matches of the sometimes completely unknown teams began at midday. The dynamic pricing principle, familiar from concerts, didn't necessarily increase the appeal due to the lack of demand. Towards the end of the tournament, the stadiums filled up. That was to be expected.

Trump uses the Club World Cup for his political show

When the tournament began, Los Angeles, one of the host cities, was at the epicenter of the conflict between the Trump-affiliated immigration authority ICE and civil society. The erratic US president threatened martial law. The conflict in Los Angeles escalated, and the ICE raids continued. Latinos, arguably the largest group of soccer fans, had to fear, and still have to fear, constant raids. This, too, didn't necessarily drive spectators to the stadiums. The German club representatives stated that they were in the USA to play soccer, not to make political statements. A legitimate, but also (too) simplistic, point of view.

The club representatives remained silent about the deportation camp dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida swamps that opened during the tournament. Gianni Infantino certainly didn't. They hadn't come to raise their voices in the name of humanity. They had come to play and cash in. Politics merely interfered. Yet the tournament remained highly political.

In the days leading up to the Iran conflict, Trump invited Juventus Turin to the White House. Infantino was also there. They all remained props for the TV personality's political show, which thus garnered new viewers for his announcements and threats. The Iran conflict came and went, but football stayed for a while. A new Iran conflict is likely to emerge in football next year as well. The US government's travel bans also apply to Iran, which has already qualified for the World Cup. There is an exception for the World Cup. But can this be relied upon? It also remains completely unclear what the travel bans will mean for fans of countries that have not yet qualified. While in Qatar 2022 an entire nation seemed to be doing everything it could to make the tournament possible, in the USA football is just another leisure activity – with, of course, a gigantic global leisure and entertainment industry in the background.

German clubs also played

Germany is a large part of this. The country in the heart of Europe is increasingly losing its sporting relevance. As a result, the contributions of the two German representatives to the tournament were negligible. FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Record champions Munich also lost a key player in Jamal Musiala.

The DFB star's injury against Paris Saint-Germain remains the only memorable moment, and a particularly costly one at that. Borussia Dortmund was also there and was delighted with more than two million new followers, as sporting director Sebastian Kehl proudly announced in the "SZ" newspaper. Expectations for the tournament weren't particularly high. Performances fluctuated. The money was right. Both teams took home around $50 million. Nationally, it was another step toward cementing the league's position.

When will the next Club World Cup take place?

The tournament was another step toward the end of national leagues as we know them, even though FIFA has promised compensation payments to the non-participating clubs and leagues. The next Club World Cup is still scheduled to take place in 2029. There are already numerous bids. But the British newspaper "Independent" is already reporting on considerations for a new calendar that divides the year into one-third league, one-third international competition, and one-third international matches.

Perhaps the Club World Cup could just be the first bait for a true global Super League, one in which Saudi club Al-Hilal can compete week after week with clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City. Neither club has been able to defeat Neymar's former club. And perhaps, given its huge success (except in Europe!), the tournament will soon be held every two years. Anything is possible.

Tournament is not of excessive interest in Germany

Much remains uncertain in these July days of 2025. But one thing remains: the rebukes directed at the fans and the public by those officials who profit from the Club World Cup system. BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke was particularly notable, accusing the Germans of suffering from "Qatar Syndrome." Everything was fantastic, he said, especially the atmosphere, but in Germany, people are increasingly taking a more critical view.

Watzke was mistaken, however. Some had absolutely nothing to complain about the tournament, while others simply ignored it because it was summer, other tournaments were on TV, and sometimes there's a break. They punished the tournament of megalomania with their disinterest. Those who watched probably watched because they always watch when their club is playing or a ball is rolling somewhere. But no one can blame those who didn't. Even the final didn't electrify the crowds in Germany unduly.

Donald Trump will watch the Club World Cup final. He has always loved soccer. During his first term in office, he even had a goal in the White House garden, Infantino reported at Trump Tower. Europe should be happy that this game now belongs to others. The football on display over the past four weeks is the antithesis of a golden era; it is unscrupulous and dystopian. Not everyone is into it.