FIFA is no longer hiding this.
When you’re desperate for a big broadcast deal and some major U.S. sponsors in the coming months, the time for subtlety is over.
Lionel Messi Inter Miami have qualified for next summer’s new, massive Club World Cup in the United States – a word that takes more effort than a cheapskate picking up the bar bill after a big night out.
how and why there Lionel Messi Is Inter Miami considered worthy of being among the top 32 football clubs in the world? Earn the 2024 MLS Supporters Shield of course!
Where will the first game of next summer’s tournament be held? In Miami of course!
Inter Miami celebrates winning the Supporters’ Shield (Chris Arjoon/AFP via Getty Images)
If this all feels too convenient, that’s because it is. Miami and Messi being involved in a global tournament desperate for immediate financial success makes sense for FIFA, but does it make sense for regular people?
Give Miami a spot via the Supporters’ Shield, which gives the trophy (well, the shield) to the MLS team with the best regular-season record (but with the MLS Cup added at the end of the season (Before the game is decided) International Football Association (FIFA) revealed the legality and authenticity of the new look of the Club World Cup. Yes, it will shock your faces.
To be fair, Miami just broke the MLS regular-season record for most points scored in a regular season with 74 points in 34 games, a total that came on the final day of the season with 6 on a goal from Lionel Messi. -2 Achieved when defeating the New England Revolution.
It’s Miami’s first MLS trophy since joining the league as an expansion team in 2020, having won the League Cup (the top division of MLS and Mexican club soccer) last year.
“You have proven that in America you are always the best club on the pitch,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said as he attended a large Supporters’ Shield celebration at home in Miami. “I am therefore proud to announce that, as one of the best clubs in the world, you are worthy participants in the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025.”
Without Messi, would the first new Club World Cup really be held in the United States? (Chris Arjun/AFP via Getty Images)
Whether or not you think Miami should be shoehorned into the tournament, there are two points in these quotes that are clearly debatable.
- Miami has yet to prove they are the “consistently best club” in the country. They’ve really proven themselves to be the best club in MLS’s Eastern Conference, which is only half the size of the United States (and a few spots in Canada). Yes, they’re undefeated in six league games against Western Conference teams this season, but they’ve only won three of them. It all feels a bit like saying Celtic proved they were the best team in Britain by winning the Scottish Championship.
- “One of the best clubs in the world”, Gianni, really? They may have some older legends playing for them, but they don’t get that nickname if you can’t guarantee they’ll beat Crystal Palace in a one-off game tomorrow.
Miami became the 31st club to enter the Club World Cup and the only club to qualify solely through its domestic league. So far, another 30 teams have entered through competition across the continent or rankings between teams from that continent. Basically, it’s either winning the conference tournament or maintaining a good, consistent record in games involving teams from multiple countries.
Africa (through the African Champions League) has four teams participating in the Club World Cup, as does Asia (the AFC Champions League). There are 12 teams in Europe (UEFA Champions League), 4 teams in CONCACAF (via CONCACAF Champions League), and 5 teams in South America (Libertadores). teams, the OFC team has 1 team, namely Oakland City, and one from the host nation, Miami.
How will the 32nd and final team advance? Will FIFA give it to Disney+ All-Stars? Maybe a Mohammed bin Salman select XI?
Well, no, it will be the 2024 Copa Libertadores winner, joining the winners of 2021 (Palmeiras), 2022 (Flamengo), 2023 (Fluminense), and South America The two highest-ranked clubs in the FA League are River Plate and Boca Juniors. wonderful. That works.
Even if the same criteria means Chelsea qualify because they won the 2021 Champions League final, a victory that long ago involved Roman Abramovich, Thomas Tuchel (four Chelsea managers), Titus Mo Werner and Olivier Giroud, but there is also validation because they won the biggest tournament in Europe.
Even though the ranking criteria means Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg lost their first two Champions League games of the season by 3-0 and 4-0 scores, they have advanced to the Champions League group just once in their past four games. match, but they somehow managed to sneak into the Champions League group stages. You are you, FIFA.
This is not a complaint about the host nation’s team being given a place in the competition. Far from it. There should Being the home team of the tournament is just as natural as the host team being guaranteed a spot in the World Cup. FIFA could not guarantee that there would be a home team from CONCACAF (Seattle Sounders are reportedly involved in the 2022 Confederations Champions League), so it was stated from the start that the United States would be this team. There is no problem with this team. It was only yesterday that they announced that the team that wins the Supporters’ Shield will qualify.
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What else would they do? A wildcard spot that ensures U.S. participation is not unreasonable at all.
This is common in tennis, where a top player may not be ranked high enough to compete in one of the four major tournaments for one reason or another (such as a long-term injury), but can earn a spot at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open. Goran Ivanisevic once won Wimbledon as a wild card, while Andy Murray and countless other Britons have secured spots at the London tournament over the years. It increases crowd sizes and television audiences.
By the same token, having Miami enter the Club World Cup as a wild card could bring in bigger attendances and draw more eyes to watch Messi play against old rivals Real Madrid or his former Barcelona mentor Pep. There will be nothing special about the match between Guardiola and Manchester City.
But by ham-fisting the rules to allow the Supporters’ Shield to replace the MLS Cup winners (Miami will likely win the title in early December), or perhaps a game-by-game between the Shield and Cup winners Sex contests If they are different, you will be laughed at. What’s more, when you call it “the greatest, most inclusive and performance-based global club competition” up front.
The reputation of a game that was already struggling for respectability took another hit.
(Top Photo: Lionel Messi and Gianni Infantino; Getty Images)
