Global soccer is about to come to Philadelphia. It’s going to bring with it all the attention and controversy of a FIFA branded event, one year before the World Cup comes to town.
Philadelphia will host the first of its eight matches in the FIFA Club World Cup on Monday, when Brazilian club Flamengo and Tunisian side Esperance Sportive de Tunis come to town for a group stage game. It will, as is expected, herald both excitement and controversy.
First, the on-field product. Lincoln Financial Field will host six group-stage games, a Round of 16 contest and a quarterfinal on July 4 in the 32-team global cup competition. The schedule:
- Monday: Flamengo vs. Esperance de Tunis, 9 p.m.
- Wednesday: Manchester City vs. Wydad AC, Noon
- Friday: Flamengo vs. Chelsea, 2 p.m.
- Sunday: Juventus vs. Wydad AC, Noon
- June 24: Esperance de Tunis vs. Chelsea, 9 p.m.
- June 26: Red Bull Salzburg vs. Real Madrid, 9 p.m.
- June 28: Round of 16 game
- July 4: Quarterfinal
All games are to be broadcast on DAZN, with some on TNT.
The why of this tournament remains murky and the biggest impediment to FIFA selling tickets. One rationale is that this is a test run for soccer audiences and hosting venues in the United States. Five of 12 host cities will also host World Cup matches next summer, among them Philadelphia. This is a dress rehearsal, with constraints. For one, the Club World Cup is run through FIFA and the Eagles, rather than through the designated Philadelphia 2026 host committee as next summer will be. The other is that soccer won’t have exclusive access to the sports complex for the run of the tournament as in the World Cup bid. Instead, you’ll see the equivalent of Eagles games coexisting with a Phillies series this weekend.
The other why is the rationale of this tournament, which to the cynical view boils down a cash grab. On paper, FIFA is expanding the model that has powered the explosive growth of soccer worldwide via the UEFA Champions League and other “champions leagues” models. In the way that champions leagues take the best teams in each country, the Club World Cup takes the best teams in each continental champions league and sends them to the U.S. to play for a $1 billion prize pool.
The tournament has already generated perplexing moments. The most obvious came last week, when the Customs and Border Protection, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, posted on social media that it would stand ready to provide security support at Club World Cup venues. Given the coziness between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Trump administration, and the latter’s policy of detaining and deporting individuals under the guise of immigration enforcement, it sent a chill through many fan groups of the global game. CBP later deleted the post. Its echo lingers.
That controversy dulls what could’ve been an inspiring display Saturday in Miami, with thousands of red-clad fans of Egypt’s Al Ahly filling Hard Rock Stadium for a scoreless draw with Inter Miami. (FIFA in a Sunday press release declared it, with characteristic restraint, “a resounding success.”)
Attendance at the match was recorded at 60,927. The result reinforced that Miami perhaps does not belong in the tournament, shoehorned in so that FIFA can use Lionel Messi in marketing materials.
Sunday brought German champions Bayern Munich against Auckland City, representative of the Oceania Football Confederations Champions League and a semi-pro outfit. The game in Cincinnati ended 10-0 in Bayern’s favor.
All of which is to say that no one knows quite what to expect from the tournament.
What is certain is that Philadelphia will get a chance in the global spotlight. For the first time since 2010, the Linc will host club matches that count toward a competition: All of the 14 club soccer matches the venue has hosted save for two Philadelphia Union home games in 2010 while awaiting completion of its stadium in Chester have been friendlies. This is the longest sustained run of games at the venue since Copa America Centenario in 2016. It’s arguably the most prestigious hosting honor since the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup final or the 2003 Women’s World Cup. It will be a useful testing ground for, among other things, a World Cup-level expanded playing surface laid on top of the usual grass used for football.
What could be on display in Philadelphia eight times in the next month is a slice of the global soccer audience. Many of the 32 teams count raucous American fan groups among their support. For some fans, seeing their favorite club up close is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially or those who have moved away from their home countries.
Time will tell if that sanitized dream version of events lines up with reality.
Source: Berkshire mont
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