Let’s be honest. The FIFA Club World Cup has had its fair share of skeptics who rank among the biggest personalities in the sport. Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said it was the “worst idea ever implemented in football” because of calendar concerns. Yet, the 2025 Club World Cup has undoubtedly given fans a glimpse of what it could be with its record-setting first-ever edition in America.
While the two semi-final games saw a turnout of around 35,000 for each game, the final was a different story. Despite the meager average attendance, the final drew one of the largest crowds MetLife Stadium had ever seen, at 81,118. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said it was “the successful club competition in the world.” Yet, just days after that historic day for American soccer, another event had already toppled the record.
On Sunday, 27th July, 2025, two English clubs stepped onto the field at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for their Premier League Summer Series (pre-season) game. The clash saw Ruben Amorim’s team win their first 2025 pre-season game against Premier League rivals West Ham. While Bruno Fernandes scored twice to give United the 2-1 win, the massive turnout grabbed eyeballs.
Sky Sports reported that 82,566 soccer fans packed MetLife Stadium to watch the contest between Manchester United. That’s well over 1000 more fans than the crowd that attended the 2025 Club World Cup final. Manchester United is undoubtedly one of the most globally popular soccer clubs. However, fans set a new attendance benchmark within days after the Club World Cup, showing soccer fever is in full swing ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Bruno Fernandes’ post-game interview with Sky Sports also revealed the standout presence of the South American fans. “The Brazilians are very loud, very happy,” the winning goalscorer said about new teammate Matheus Cunha and how he’s attracting the Brazilian fans. The massive attendance also solidified Gianni Infantino’s argument about the Club World Cup, laying the groundwork for future success.
The Club World Cup was a warm-up
While news of low overall average attendance surfaced during CWC, the FIFA president flipped the narrative on its head after the final. Besides the Club World Cup final attendance rivaling Super Bowl crowds at MetLife Stadium, Infantino revealed the immense revenue the competition generated. “We’ve generated revenue of more than $2 billion,” said the FIFA president.
“That’s $31 million per game. No other club tournament comes close,” added Gianni Infantino. However, that’s not all, as the 55-year-old directly addressed the lingering concerns surrounding the overall attendance for the 2025 Club World Cup. “We respect everyone’s opinion. It has been successful. We have had over 2.5 million [people] in the stadium,” he added while speaking from Trump Tower.
Credit: Instagram/@frfootball
“That’s around 40,000 spectators per match – there is no league in the world with that number, except the Premier League, which, of course, has home teams, and these are neutral stadiums,” explained Infantino. His claim about the Premier League’s crowd-pulling power just played out in real time during the Manchester United and West Ham game. Now the 2026 World Cup predictions look even better.
While it may be hard to believe, a report co-authored by Tourism Economics, a publication under Oxford Economics, claimed that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will generate $3.3 billion in revenue for New York and New Jersey alone between June 11 and July 19. That’s more revenue than a decade of NFL Sundays at MetLife Stadium. Around 1.2 million soccer fans are set to generate $1.7 billion, with the rest of the $1.3 billion coming from labor income. This recent success certainly gives you the impression that these predictions are not far-fetched at all.
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