What has Club World Cup taught us before 2026 World Cup?

BBC News

3 days ago

The Club World Cup has been seen by many as a dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup, when 48 teams will battle it out for the global crown across Mexico, Canada and the United States.Five of the venues over the past month - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field and Lumen Field - are also hosting matches next year.So what has the Club World Cup taught us about what is to come? And are there any lessons Fifa can learn from it?Former Manchester City and Tottenham midfielder Michael Brown, who was a co-commentator for DAZN at 10 games across five different cities, told BBC Sport: "I do feel like the tournament has been a really good test for the World Cup."
Record-breaking heat & violent storms
Record-breaking heat and violent storms wreaked havoc across the tournament. A sign of things to come next year?US rules mean play is stopped when lightning is recorded within a 10-mile radius - and cannot restart until 30 minutes after it finishes.Six games were delayed, with durations ranging from 40 minutes to two hours. Two Benfica games, against Auckland and Chelsea, were delayed for about 120 minutes.There were only four minutes left when that Chelsea game was held up. The Blues were winning 1-0 but Benfica levelled before Chelsea won in extra time."I think it's a joke, to be honest," Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said at the time."It's not football. It's completely something new. I struggle to understand - if you suspend seven or eight games then it's probably not the right place to do the competition."Fifa were fortunate storms didn't impact evening games, which could have seen postponements until the following day, but it is a possibility for next year.Chelsea were also one of many teams to struggle with the extreme heat.Temperatures have soared to 39C in New York and humidity has made it feel even worse - more than 50C on the heat index.Fifpro state that nine of next year's 16 host cities have "very high" or "extremely high" risk of heat stress injuries during the tournament.Clubs had to arrange shorter training sessions, with Maresca saying "otherwise you don't save energy for the game".
Ten Juventus players asked to be substituted during their defeat by Real Madrid, said their manager Igor Tudor.Borussia Dortmund subs watched the first half of one game from the changing room to avoid the sun - and manager Niko Kovac said he was "sweating like I've just come out of a sauna".PSG boss Luis Enrique said: "It's not good for the spectacle because it's difficult to play in that position."Meanwhile, the sniffer dogs at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia were wearing Crocs due to the temperature of the concrete underfoot.Brown told BBC Sport: "The weather has obviously been something all the teams have had to deal with. It's affected the fans too - some of the days, the heat was so extreme."It was just ridiculous and it something that is going to affect everyone next year. Teams and fans will have to be ready for it."On the plus side, there will be five stadiums with roofs - as opposed to just one in Atlanta this summer - but the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams means significant risks remain. Possible solutions are planning around kick-off times to avoid playing in hot cities in the middle of the day, as so often happened at the Club World Cup, while seven of the venues used this summer won't be used in 2026."The weather has been hot but of course we can see about kick-off times, review and possibly look at hiding games earlier in the day at stadiums with roofs," said former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Fifa's chief of global football development.
Will the crowds come out to USA 26?
The past month has brought a mixed bag when it comes to attendances - ranging from the sold-out to the embarrassingly sparse.Four matches failed to get more than 10,000 fans - with the lowest attendance the 3,412 who watched Mamelodi Sundowns beat Ulsan HD 1-0.But there have been 17 crowds of 60,000 or more - with the highest the 81,118 who saw Chelsea beat Paris St-Germain in Sunday's final.Most of the highest attendances were at games involving PSG or Real Madrid."We believe the attendances were projected as low and in reality were much higher," said Wenger.Another reason given for low attendances have been the kick-off times, with many being at noon or 3pm on a weekday.
American journalist Doug Roberson said after Chelsea's opener against Los Angeles attracted just 22,000: "It's not because people here don't care about soccer. The people aren't here because it's Monday at 3pm. Frankly I am surprised there are as many as there are."It's a tournament that doesn't mean a lot to people in the US because it's new. I would imagine paying to come to a tournament you don't know didn't appeal because the World Cup is coming next year and people are trying to save money for that."If I were Fifa, for the World Cup I would have game times where more people could come. It is something to think about - and the ticket prices were ridiculous."Jonathan Tannenwald, chief soccer correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer, said: "We will all show up for the World Cup next summer but for the Club World Cup they needed to market it to explain."Fifa are expected to stick with the same kick-off times during next summer's World Cup so will be relying on the appeal of the tournament to cut through and will be asking local fans to take time off work to attend matches. The Gold Cup has also been going on over the past few weeks, played at non-Club World Cup venues in the US, attracting attention from TV audiences. This competing factor won't be a problem next year.
Fifa's policy of dynamic ticket pricing - where the cost of tickets can change regularly - has also been controversial and it is a policy they are expecting to carry into next year's tournament.Ticket prices for Chelsea's semi-final against Fluminense reportedly dropped from almost £350 to less than £10 in the week before the game.Tickets for the Blues' quarter-final against Palmeiras ended up at £8 - with fans talking about having paid over £250 when they first went on sale.Brown said: "When I've been travelling it feels like a lot of Americans are starting to speak about it now and know it is going on - whoever you speak to, they go 'oh yeah it's the football'."It is still growing, of course - the public's awareness of it has got loads better than it was a few years ago but there is still a way to go, not just to spread the word that it is happening but to get people out here used to going to football games or watching matches on TV."It's still not the main sport out here but that's the next step. There is so much room for growth but if you go to a lot of bars and restaurants, then they are still showing a lot of baseball when the football is on."
What have the stadiums and transport links been like?
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was played within a radius of 43 miles.The air-conditioned public metro system, which was free to use for fans with tickets during the tournament, reached six of the eight stadiums, with road transportation needed for the other two. But the sheer scale of the USA has brought up concern about the transport to various stadiums for the 2026 tournament, with some venues difficult to reach via public transport.BBC Sport found this to be the case during the tournament, especially at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the Club World Cup final was held and where next year's final is scheduled to take place.The nearest train stop was Meadowlands Sports Complex station, requiring supporters to then walk 20 to 30 minutes in searing heat before reaching their relevant entry gate.The semi-final between Real Madrid and PSG was also delayed at the same venue due to both teams being stuck in gridlocked traffic.The opening match of the Club World Cup took place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which is set to host seven matches next year, including the third-fourth place play-off.But the venue sits off a busy highway with no trains or metro system anywhere near the ground. Arriving three hours before kick-off allowed Uber drivers to drop off passengers close to the stadium before roads were closed off.A post-match curfew meant no access for Uber or cab drivers within a certain distance and supporters had to walk for 20 minutes to a pick-up zone.Manchester City played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, which is set to host six matches at the 2026 tournament and is serviced by a metro system to the incredible sports complex featuring the football/NFL stadium, as well as the baseball and NHL venues.City also played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which is regarded as one of the best sporting stadiums in the world, featuring a retractable roof and giant LED screens.Eight matches will be played inside the air-conditioned stadium next year, which has good transport links including a metro system close by and an Uber pick-up a 15-minute walk away.A potential solution for some locations, which has been done at other tournaments, is free transport to fans with match tickets but special buses or trains will have to be arranged to make this happen.Brown added: "The stadiums have been great and the logistics side, if it were done again, would be easier. They will have learned so much. I think it bodes well for next summer."
'It's more a golf green' - Will the pitches be a problem?
One source at a host stadium for the Club World Cup said the preparation time for the event had left limited opportunity to convert mostly American Football (NFL) artificial surfaces to grass pitches. The way the ball bounces and rolls is different from at stadiums in Europe and has led to complaints from England internationals Jude Bellingham and Reece James among others. Dortmund manager Kovac highlighted the inconsistency between the various stadiums after losing to Real Madrid on the MetLife stadium pitch in New Jersey. He said: "This pitch and the pitches we've played on in Cincinnati and also in Atlanta, the grass quality is different in the stadiums."It's more a golf green. You can putt here. It's very short. This is not the grass we are used to playing on in the Bundesliga and also the other stadiums."The watering wasn't good enough, I'd say, because you don't have the licence for that. For high-speed football, you need good conditions and you need also a good pitch, the right pitch. When it's too dry, it's unbelievable, it's sticky."A Fifa source explained there is more bed-in time for the 2026 World Cup while local sources highlight how the US is such a big country with different climates that grass that works in one city may not work in another.
How stringent will security be?
There were regular checks for media and scanning of passes to make sure they were holding the correct credentials for accessing different parts of stadiums.With Donald Trump in attendance, security was predictably at its very tightest for the final between Chelsea and PSG.Given the game was played a year to the day since the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, the heightened security at MetLife Stadium came as no surprise.The United States Secret Service were armed and on location, with several snipers positioned on the roof of the ground.Up until that point, the heaviest security presence seen by BBC Sport was at the opening game in Miami, where police cars with flashing lights lined the main boulevards leading up to the stadium.Police officers with 'counter terrorism' logos patrolled the exterior of the venue and numerous security checks and bag searches were made before entry was granted.Supporters needed extra time to make their way inside as they were forced to have further checks at a second perimeter point.Sniffer dogs were in place near the entrance to the stadium in Philadelphia, while at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, armed officials dressed all in black with 'bomb squad' logos walked up and down the length of the press box.Meanwhile, reports, external said US immigration and border protection personnel provided security at matches during the tournament and it remains to be seen whether the same will take place next year.