FIFA doesn't hide it anymore.
If we desperately need a big broadcast deal and a major American sponsor in the coming months, the time for subtlety is past.
lionel messi Inter Miami have qualified for next summer's massive Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States with a new twist.
How and why did this happen? lionel messi Do you think Inter Miami deserves to be in the top 32 soccer clubs in the world? By winning the 2024 Supporters Shield in MLS, of course.
And where will the first match of next summer's tournament be held? In Miami, of course!
Inter Miami celebrate winning the Supporters' Shield (Kris Arjun/AFP via Getty Images)
If it all seems too convenient, that's because it is. It makes sense for FIFA, but not for the general public, for Miami and Messi to participate in a global tournament that is in dire need of immediate financial success. I wonder if there is one?
By giving Miami a spot via the Supporters' Shield, this is a trophy (OK, shield) handed out to the MLS side with the best record in the regular season (but not the big MLS Cup at the end of the season).・Before the playoffs are decided). Champions), FIFA has shed light on the legitimacy and credibility of the new Club World Cup. Yes, please make a surprised face.
To be fair to Miami, they just broke the MLS record for most points in a regular season with 74 points in 34 games. This total was achieved on the final day of the season when Messi defeated the New England Revolution 6-2 with a goal. Luis Suarez scored two goals, scoring a hat trick in 11 minutes off the bench.
This is Miami's first MLS silver medal since joining the league as an expansion team in 2020, following last year's victory in the League's Cup (a tournament between teams from MLS and Liga MX, Mexico's top division of club soccer). Ta.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, standing on the home pitch in Miami for a huge Supporters' Shield celebration, said: “You have always proven that you are the best club on the field in the United States.'' '' he said. “As one of the best clubs in the world, we are therefore proud to announce that you are worthy participants in the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025.”
Would the first new Club World Cup really have been held in America without Messi? (Kris Arjun/AFP via Getty Images)
Whether you think Miami should be in the tournament or not, there are two obvious things to take issue with from these quotes.
- Miami has yet to prove itself as the “best club of all time” in the United States. They have definitely proven themselves to be the best club in MLS's Eastern Conference, which is only half as big as America (and a few bits of Canada). Yes, they went undefeated in six league games against Western Conference teams this season, but they only won three of them. It all feels like saying Celtic proved they are the best team in England by winning the Scottish title.
- “One of the best clubs in the world”, Gianni, is that true? They may have older legends playing, but if they can't guarantee they will beat Crystal Palace in a one-off draw tomorrow, for example, they won't have that nickname.
Miami became the 31st club to participate in the Club World Cup, and the only club to qualify solely from its domestic league. So far, the remaining 30 teams have competed through continent-wide competitions and rankings between teams from that continent. Basically, you need to win a federation tournament or have a consistently good performance in a competition where teams from multiple countries participate.
Four teams from Africa (via the CAF Champions League) will participate in the Club World Cup, as well as Asia (via the AFC Champions League). 12 teams in Europe (UEFA Champions League), 4 teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean via CONCACAF Champions League, 5 teams in South America (CONMEBOL Libertadores) and 1 team from OFC via Continental Rankings , so we have Auckland City. One is from host Miami.
How will the 32nd and final team qualify? Will FIFA award it to Disney+ All Stars? Perhaps Mohammed bin Salman Select XI?
No, no, the 2024 Copa will join the winners of 2021 (Palmeiras), 2022 (Flamengo) and 2023 (Fluminense), as well as the CONMEBOL federation's two highest-ranking clubs, River Plate and Boca Juniors. Become the Libertadores Champion. Are you okay. It works fine.
Even if the same criteria meant that Chelsea won the 2021 Champions League final, that victory included Roman Abramovich, Thomas Tuchel (fourth Chelsea manager), Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud. They were involved, but since they won, it needs to be verified. The biggest tournament in Europe.
Austria's Red Bull Salzburg, who have lost their first two Champions League games this season 0-3 and 0-4, have only made it past the Champions League group stage once in the past four times. Even if it means that you somehow managed to sneak your way up despite just the first time, it will happen again over the years. You are you, FIFA.
This is not a complaint that the host country's team was given the right to participate in the tournament. Far from it. There should To be the home team for the tournament, just as the host nation is naturally guaranteed a spot in the World Cup. FIFA couldn't guarantee the home team would qualify via CONCACAF (in fact, the Seattle Sounders were responsible for winning the federation's Champions Cup in 2022), so the U.S. team was set to compete from the start. It's not a problem to say you're deaf. Except it was just announced yesterday that teams that win the Supporters Shield will qualify.
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What else should I have done? A wildcard location to secure some U.S. involvement would not have been entirely unreasonable.
This is common in tennis, where top players who are not ranked high enough to reach one of the four Grand Sam tournaments for some reason, such as a long-term injury, are given a spot at Wimbledon or the US Open. be. Goran Ivanisevic once won Wimbledon as a wildcard, and Andy Murray and Endless Blitz have been given qualifications to the London Games over the years. It boosts audience numbers and TV viewership.
Putting Miami into the Club World Cup for the same reason would draw more spectators, perhaps more to watch games between Messi and arch-rivals Real Madrid, former Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola or Manchester City. As a high-profile wildcard, it probably won't feel special. Wrong.
But either they concoct some crazy rule and give Supporters' Shield teams a spot instead of MLS Cup winners (Miami will likely win in early December), or Shield teams and Cup winners. There may be a one-off match between the two. If they are different, you will be exposed to ridicule. All the better if they were proactive and named it “the greatest, most comprehensive, merit-based, global club competition to ever exist.”
The competition, which is already struggling to maintain its reputation, has suffered another blow to its reputation.
(Top photo: Lionel Messi and Gianni Infantino, Getty Images)
