Club World Cup: The Prestige of European Giants, Hope of Surprises from the Middle Leagues

MIAMI, FRIDAY — A total of 32 clubs from 20 countries will compete for the trophy in the new format of the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins on Sunday (15/6/2025) at 07:00 WIB. The uneven strength of the participating clubs could lead to monotonous competition. However, teams from mid-tier leagues and confederations have significant potential to create surprises in the United States.

The captain of the 2022 World Cup champion team, Argentina, Lionel Messi, has the honor of participating in the opening match of the new format of the 2025 Club World Cup. Together with Inter Miami, which is the host team, Messi will kick off the competition to find the best club in the world and will carry the emblem of the best club in the world for the next four years.

Miami will face the Egyptian giant, Al Ahly, which holds the title of the most successful team in the African Champions League over the past four years. The inaugural match of the 2025 Club World Cup, which will be accompanied by an opening ceremony, will take place at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Florida, USA.

Having Messi and former Barcelona stars such as Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba does not automatically make Miami the favorites. The players who filled the squad during Barcelona's golden era in the 2010s have already entered the twilight of their football careers.

Messi and his teammates are still performing quite well in Major League Soccer (MLS) 2025, sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference. However, Miami has been eliminated from the North American Champions League (Concacaf) after losing with an aggregate score of 1-5 to Vancouver, another MLS representative.

In terms of squad value, Miami is only ranked 21st out of 32 teams. Based on Transfermarkt's calculations, the market value of Javier Mascherano's squad is 66.18 million euros or around Rp1.24 billion.

The market value of Miami, owned by David Beckham, is significantly lower compared to the three teams that have alternately won the UEFA Champions League in the last three seasons. Real Madrid, which comes with a new coach, Xabi Alonso, has the most expensive squad valued at 1.33 billion euros (Rp 25 trillion).

Subsequently, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain followed with values of 1.31 billion euros (Rp 24.6 trillion) and 1.06 billion euros (Rp 19.9 trillion), respectively. Another team with a player composition value exceeding 1 billion euros is the 2024-2025 UEFA Conference League champion, Chelsea.

After the Champions League, our target is to try to win the Club World Cup. That's the mentality we're developing in the team.

In total, 11 out of 12 European ambassadors consecutively occupy teams with the highest squad values. Only the Australian team, Red Bull Salzburg, has been pushed out of the top 11, ranking 14th as the team with the most luxurious squad. Salzburg's position is lower than that of two teams from Brazil, namely Palmeiras and Flamengo.

If categorizing squad statuses into teams valued at over 100 million euros, only 17 teams make it onto that list. In addition to 12 European teams, the list also includes one other team from Brazil, Botafogo; the giant of the Saudi Arabian League, Al Hilal; and the legendary Argentine team, River Plate.

The market value is also directly proportional to the predictions made by Opta through supercomputer simulation calculations. Opta predicts that 11 of the 12 clubs - outside Salzburg - have a probability of qualifying for the last 16 of more than 60 percent.

In fact, the top 10 teams, including PSG, City, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, and Benfica, have a chance of advancing to the round of 16 of over 81 percent, ranging from 91.6 percent to 81.7 percent.

The ten teams are also predicted to have the highest chances of winning, with percentages of reaching the finals ranging from 30.9 percent to 8.7 percent. Porto and Salzburg are representatives from the "Blue Continent" that emerged from the category of teams capable of winning the 2025 Club World Cup.

Luis Enrique, the coach of PSG, has issued a warning to rival teams. Enrique is seriously targeting the Club World Cup after securing the first Champions League title for PSG earlier this June.

"After the Champions League, our target is to try to win the Club World Cup. That's the mentality we're cultivating in the team," Enrique was quoted as saying by L'Equipe before his team left for the US on Wednesday (11/6/2025).

Not only PSG, but City and Real also wish to redeem a season without major titles by bringing home the luxurious trophy crafted by the jewelry company, Tiffany & Co. Both giant clubs have added three players before flying to the "Land of Uncle Sam."

City manager Pep Guardiola has addressed the weaknesses in his squad by bringing in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, and Rayan Ait-Nouri. The addition of two creative midfielders and a left-back represents "The Citizens'" efforts to achieve success on the global stage.

Real has signed two defenders from the English Premier League, Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The new colors of "Los Blancos" are also eagerly anticipated alongside Xabi Alonso.

"Every trophy is an incentive that must be pursued at Real Madrid. The nearest (trophy) is the Club World Cup, which will be our challenge," said Alexander-Arnold at his introductory press conference, Thursday (12/6/2025), as reported by the club's website.

Although not as famous and favored as European teams, clubs from Latin America, Africa, North America, Asia, and Oceania come with the prestige of their domestic leagues as well as their confederations.

Esperance (Tunisia) coach Maher Kanzari is undeterred despite his team's lack of favoritism. Esperance, the champion of the 2024-2025 Tunisian League, is placed in Group D to face Chelsea, Flamengo, and Los Angeles FC.

"We are excited to be part of this historic football event. This tournament brings significant benefits to the participating clubs and injects fresh energy into the countries of the clubs, including Tunisia. We are ambitious to deliver a performance that makes our supporters and our country proud," Kanzari stated as reported on the FIFA website.

A strong determination is also carried by Al-Ain (United Arab Emirates) forward, Saoufiane Rahimi. The Moroccan striker was the top scorer for Morocco when they won the silver medal at the 2024 Olympics. He also received the Golden Boot when Al-Ain triumphed in the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League.

"The last few years have been a special time for me. I hope to become one of the top goal scorers in the tournament (Club World Cup). Nothing is impossible in football," said Rahimi, who will lead Al-Ain against City and Juventus in the group stage.

In addition to the unknown strength, non-European teams also possess better physical and mental fitness levels. On average, they have played fewer than 35 matches during the 2024-2025 competitive season. In fact, Inter Miami and LAFC have not yet reached their 20th match this year as MLS has only been underway for three months.

Meanwhile, European teams, especially from the top five leagues, have played more than 45 matches during this season. Inter and Real will be the teams with the most fatigued squads in the United States.

Inter have played 59 games up to the Champions League final, while Real have played 58 games.

The enthusiasm of the players to participate in the matches in the United States, which is generally a destination for end-of-season vacations, provides a unique energy for the players to pursue the status of the best football club under the sky. This marks the arrival of a new era for the Club World Cup.