FIFA’s billion-dollar gamble to transform club football will officially kick off a week from Sunday, with 32 teams competing for a lucrative prize pool in the inaugural expanded Club World Cup. However, despite the high financial stakes, the tournament is facing a wave of challenges — from lukewarm fan engagement to controversial qualification criteria and player welfare concerns.

Set to take place across 12 stadiums in the United States, the tournament has been billed as a glamorous curtain-raiser ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Yet signs of trouble loom, with widespread ticket availability and growing criticism over the toll on players after a gruelling European season.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will face Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the opening fixture on 15 June at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium — but even days before the match, tickets remain readily available.

A quick check of FIFA’s official ticketing website shows numerous seats still on sale, including for the final on 13 July at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

Messi’s involvement underscores one of the tournament’s most contentious issues. Inter Miami qualified by finishing top of Major League Soccer’s regular season standings, despite an early exit in the first round of the play-offs — a decision critics argue reflects FIFA’s eagerness to feature the Argentina icon in their flagship club event.

The governing body’s move to reserve a spot for the host nation and then award it to Inter Miami has further fuelled scrutiny over the tournament’s vague and arguably inconsistent qualification standards.

As a result, some of Europe’s biggest names — including Liverpool, Barcelona and Napoli — will be absent, despite having recently secured league titles in three of the continent’s most prestigious domestic competitions.

Beyond the champions of each confederation’s premier club tournaments, qualification was also determined by a ranking system assessing club performance over a four-year span — a mechanism that has come under fire for its lack of transparency.