The Club World Cup just nine months away, and – surprisingly – no one seems to know how, exactly, it will all happen. FIFA’s annual tournament, a gathering of the best clubs around the world, has been revamped, renewed and expanded.
And the venue for this edition is perhaps the most relevant in recent memory. Next summer, 32 teams will gather in the United States, as part of the two-year run up to the 2026 World Cup. What started with Copa America in terms of a transcendent period of growth for soccer in the U.S. – Copa overall was an immense success in terms of fan attendance and national interest, despite some troublesome off-the-pitch incidents – will continue with a club tournament that organizers hope will further ignite soccer passion in North America.
Still, at this point, there are more questions than answers. No U.S. stadium locations have been officially announced, and FIFA has struggled to secure a TV rights deal for a revamped tournament it has pushed so hard to formulate. With player concerns about welfare and number of games running in juxtaposition to the inevitable interest in some of the world’s biggest clubs competing on a continent with an ever-expanding soccer appetite, this marquee event is … well, at the present, it’s all just uncertain.