The Athletic FC: What’s going on with Club World Cup? Plus: England’s shock selections

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Planning a wedding in under a year would be a rush — what about a 32-team international tournament?

Coming up:

🕵️‍♂️ Mysteries surround next year’s Club World Cup

😔 Sadness in England camp as popular players cut

👀 Chelsea and Ecuador’s ‘schoolboy sensation’

🇨🇦 Marsch’s defeat on debut as Canada boss

Cup Countdown For U.S: What is this revamped tournament?

FIFA is unfurling a 63-game wall chart and polishing up its piggy bank — this is not your grandfather’s Club World Cup.

Previous iterations were intimate affairs, held between a handful of continental champions over 10 days. That era is finished. Long live the bling.

Club football will have a new “pinnacle”, according to FIFA president Gianni Infantino — a 32-team behemoth, held between June 15 and July 13, 2025, and once every four years. The United States, in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, will host.

Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Seattle Sounders will compete as recent continental competition winners — while PSG, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan are among the qualifiers through coefficient rankings.

There are three spots left — and with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami still seeking to qualify, a money-spinning play-off between the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield winners could decide the final U.S. slot. Yum.

To benefit European television audiences, matches will be mainly on the east coast, split between MLS and NFL stadiums — but what of the west coast, you say? It will simultaneously host the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Plenty to organise — and FIFA is only just getting started.

What is yet to be confirmed?

Infantino had barely finished speaking before complaints arose over player workload. The one thing that could quieten them? A big pot of prize money.

But this revenue is derived from sponsorship and broadcast deals — and, according to The Athletic’s Adam Crafton, FIFA is nowhere near its targets. Aiming for 10 sponsors, each paying more than $100million (£78m), contracts remain in progress. The absence of Barcelona, AC Milan and other major Premier League sides has made the tournament a tougher sell.

Apple TV appears to be the likely broadcasting destination but the eventual fee could be a quarter of what FIFA initially aimed for. Its paywall is another turn-off for potential sponsors.

There are practical concerns, too. Contracts for European-based footballers expire on June 30, halfway through the tournament, and the increasing predominance of multi-club ownership models means FIFA could face conflicts of interest.

What has FIFA said?

Not much. When approached by The Athletic, it insisted it was “fully confident and convinced of the commercial and sporting success of the new competition”, that it was in “productive dialogue” with commercial partners and that “appropriate measures” would be taken over multi-club issues.

In a written response to leagues threatening legal action over scheduling, FIFA said their arguments “were not supported by facts”.

News Round-Up

England exits: Southgate shocks stalwarts with Euros selection

Gareth Southgate will not die wondering. The England manager has made the boldest selection of his coaching career — dropping stalwarts Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire from his Euro 2024 squad. On form and fitness, his rationale is justifiable — but the pair are part of this group’s cultural heartbeat.

Several selected players are broken-hearted before they’ve even played a minute. But if moons, tides, and seasons can embrace cycles, so can the England football team.

The most excitement is reserved for midfielders Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton — just 19 and 20 years old respectively — but in-form forwards Eberechi Eze, Cole Palmer, and Anthony Gordon will also have the chance to sparkle. Captain Harry Kane is now an exception — Southgate’s England have gone Gen Z.

Schoolboy superstar: Chelsea’s Paez, 17, is a ‘sensation’ in Ecuador

Getty Images; design: Sean Reilly

Kendry Paez sounds annoying. He’s the kid brother, nagging coaches at Independiente del Valle for a first-team call-up at just 15. He wants to humiliate, flicking the ball over the heads of two opposing players with his first touch. He’s the teenager who needed an intervention to tidy his messy room. But he also sounds like an incredible talent.

“Kendry,” says former mentor Cristian Pellerano, “can achieve whatever he wants to.” Martin Anselmi, Independiente’s assistant coach in 2019, couldn’t agree more. “Technically superlative,” he says. “He is a sensation in his homeland, a schoolboy superstar.”

Paez, who only turned 17 last month, has already agreed to join Chelsea next May and will be joined by Tosin Adarabioyo, whose free transfer has just been confirmed. He’s learnt a lot while at Manchester City and Fulham.

Around The Athletic FC

🇨🇦 New Canada coach Jesse Marsch lost his first match 4-0 to the Netherlands. Jeremie Frimpong scored the second (above) — just look at the bend on that ball. He could be fun to watch at the Euros!

🎙️ Why do the Netherlands play in orange? How will Georgia press? The Athletic’s Euros team guides have you covered. And if you want nostalgia, our Euro Stories podcast series is up and running.

Quiz Question

Name the missing club from this list: 1986: Everton; 1988: Everton; 1990: ?????; 1992: Nottingham Forest.

Stuck? The answer will be revealed here on our website at 11am ET / 4pm UK time — and in Monday’s newsletter.

Catch A Match

Saturday: United States vs Colombia (friendly), 5.30pm ET — Telemundo/Peacock/TNT; Mexico vs Brazil (friendly), 9pm ET — fuboTV.