With the inaugural Fifa Club World Cup upon us, the US-hosted 2026 World Cup test event stands to see itself through several brewing controversies.
If recent reports by Sports Illustrated and The Athletic hold, Miami’s 64,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium could see “tens of thousands” of empty seats for the tournament’s opening match. As/of June 9, StubHub showed tickets available for as low as $74, with tickets in the lower area close to the pitch available for under $300. The ticketing and US immigration climates have prompted at least one major media outlet to clarify false social media rumors of FIFA moving US game sites to Canada and Mexico. The low sales come after Inter Miami was chosen as the automatically-qualifying host team, quite obviously due to Messi’s presence.
With the World Cup-and/or their own club seasons’ timing-to consider, players have not by any means been reluctant to decide not to take part, or even to just speak out. Ronaldo has confirmed he will almost certainly not play, while England manager Thomas Tuchel did not hesitate to say he thinks Premier League clubs not playing will have an advantage. Tuchel cited Liverpool and Arsenal specifically. Discussing an upcoming friendly, he went as far as to say in an interview reported by Sky Sports, “There is not one player who says they want to be on the bench and save themselves for the Club World Cup. They are hungry to play.” Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has also been a vocal critic of the tournament’s schedule not allowing players ample rest.
Controversy hasn’t escaped the host country either, of course. You’d think that Major League Soccer would be thrilled its players on the Seattle Sounders could take home prize money. Instead, the league and the Sounders are ensnared in a nasty conflict just days before the tournament is set to kick off. FIFA’s prize pot incentivizing Club World Cup participation totals $1 billion overall. As a CONCACAF team, the Sounders will get $9.55 million just for participating. Thereafter, they can win between $1 million per group stage draw and other sums of up to $40 million for winning the tournament.
So, what’s the issue? According to a recent statement by the league’s Player’s Association, MLS is reportedly refusing to promise full or fair payouts to the players based on preexisting contractual language. MLS’ collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) from 2021 includes language limiting player compensation in a voluntary tournament to a total of $1 million, with the league pocketing the rest of the winnings earned by players, or allocating it as it pleases.
This conflict has resulted in-among other arguable embarrassments for MLS-a player protest where the Sounders wore t-shirts with the Monopoly mascot that read, “Club World Ca$h Grab” before their June 1 match. The adage that any controversy is good controversy has not translated to ticket sales in Seattle for the tournament-at least when it comes to their match against the world’s No. 1-ranked club in PSG. As/of June 9, you can get into the stadium to see PSG for just over $100 on StubHub. Nevertheless, once the CWC kicks off, the United States and its three participating MLS teams will find themselves in an increasingly bright spotlight. Particularly after the USSF’s ugly, yearslong conflicts over equal pay for USWNT players, the MLS sticking a dated contractual clause up in the face of an unprecedented global payout by FIFA stands to land another highly visible black eye on a major American soccer institution.
