Seattle set to host Club World Cup in ‘dress rehearsal’ for next year’s World Cup
SEATTLE – Welcome to the dress rehearsal for a year from now when a chunk of the soccer world will descend on Seattle.
This one, though, comes with a new twist on an attempt to bring together the international soccer community.
Clubs instead of countries. Some of the biggest names in international soccer playing competitive games in Seattle. A decidedly local angle and an opportunity for Sounders FC that may never come again.
And an event that also begs the question: Will anyone really care?
“We’re all looking at this with a prism of this has never happened and we don’t really know how this is going to play out,” ESPN analyst and former Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller said.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will kick off Sunday night when the local side Sounders FC will face Brazilian club Botafogo for the first of six matches to be played at Lumen Field over the next two weeks.
The tournament will bring some of the biggest club names in international soccer to the Pacific Northwest, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, River Plate and Atlético Madrid all slated for games during the first playing of this tournament in its newly expanded format.
For FIFA and local officials, the Club World Cup is essentially a test event for next year when the FIFA Men’s World Cup comes to Seattle for six matches over a three-week span that is expected to bring a significant number of international visitors and attention to the city and region.
“We’ll be looking very closely at sort of the security, the crowd control. We’ve been discussing, kind of improvements on how we move people in and around the stadium, and so those things all will be very much examined,” said Peter Tomozawa, CEO of Seattle’s organizing committee for next year’s tournament. “It is, in a way, a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.”
While next year is expected to turn the city into a cultural melting pot of soccer fans from around the world descending on the city, that will not be the case for this year’s tournament. There are strong signs that even the most die-hard soccer fans aren’t interested in spending their dollars to see some of these big clubs play in Seattle with uncertainty of how many of the top players for those teams might even see the field, although the initial rosters released for the event show teams are bringing the majority of their stars. FIFA has slashed ticket prices in markets around the country, including Seattle, hoping that games don’t end up getting played inside significantly empty stadiums.
For the Sounders, the opportunity to play competitive matches against the likes of the current UEFA Champions League winners PSG and Atlético Madrid may never come again. But the backdrop to the matches has come with controversy over bonus payouts for the players of the three Major League Soccer teams participating in the event.
The Sounders went as far as a public protest before their last home match against Minnesota United on June 1.
What is the Club World Cup?
If the Club World Cup sounds familiar, you’d be correct. The tournament dates to 2000, including the 2022 version (played in February 2023) that included the Sounders as a participant. Their participation lasted one match in Morocco where they were eliminated by Egyptian side Al Ahly.
At that time, the tournament included only the champions of the six confederations around the world, plus a host team. The tournament usually took place during the winter and lasted about 10 days.
But with the growing interest in club soccer around the world and the Men’s World Cup being held in North America next year, FIFA saw an opportunity – both for exposure and financial gain – to launch plans for an expanded tournament for 2025.
The 32-team event will follow a similar format to the World Cup, with each team guaranteed three group stage matches, and the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout bracket. The final will be on July 13 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The uniqueness of the Club World Cup lies with the chance to see players that may not otherwise appear in a World Cup playing for their country. Will Norway qualify for the World Cup? No idea, but Erling Haaland and Manchester City will be here this summer. Turkey might not qualify either, but Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu might be the best player at his position in the world and will play in Seattle twice. Luka Modric is leaving Real Madrid after the Club World Cup, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be back next year with Croatia.
But player participation has come begrudgingly with growing concerns about overuse, especially for European players just finishing a long club season and knowing that next year will be another long campaign with additional matches for those hoping to play in the World Cup itself.
“It really is a concern for players’ well-being. Players are facing greater levels of possible injury just by nature of anytime you play more games, there’s more risk of injury because you’re playing more,” said Ron Krabill, professor and director of the Global Sports Lab at the University of Washington.
The favorites are clear and obvious because they are the current powers of world soccer: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. But, depending on the rosters each club brings, an unexpected team could emerge as a contender.
Sounders general manager Craig Waibel said the tournament will mean more when it’s played next in 2029 because someone will have four years to brag about it.
“It’s a trophy no one owns, and so there’s no jealousy right now. And I think jealousy in sports has a value that transcends a lot of just the moments,” Waibel said.
As an enticement for clubs and players to take the competition seriously, FIFA created a $1 billion prize pool for the tournament. But that’s also led to issues for at least one team playing in Seattle: the Sounders.
Sharing the pot
When MLS and its players agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in 2021, an expanded Club World Cup including MLS teams wasn’t even a dream. Now it’s a reality, and the split of the money the three MLS teams will get from the event is leaving the players feeling shortchanged.
As part of the prize pool from FIFA, the three MLS teams are ensured of earning at least $9.55 million each from their participation. The teams can earn another $2 million for wins and $1 million for a draw in the group stage, while advancing to the knockout round would garner another $7.5 million.
That is – and could be – a lot of money for a franchise and its players.
The CBA, however, agreed to in 2021 created a 90/10 split between teams and players for events like this, meaning of that $9.55 million guaranteed to the Sounders less than $1 million would go to the players to be split.
The frustration from players at such a paltry payment structure reached a tipping point on June 1 when Sounders players wore “Club World Ca$h Grab” shirts before their match against Minnesota United and owner Adrian Hanauer reportedly angrily confronting the players after the match.
The MLS Players Association received a proposal from the league last week on how pay would be divided that the players were “deeply disappointed” with. As of Thursday, a resolution in a pay split had not been reached.
Should we care?
Whatever viewpoint fans take in looking at the tournament is probably fair. An optimist may look at the fact that PSG, Atlético Madrid, River Plate and Inter Milan will play competitive matches in Seattle for likely the only time ever, with two of those teams playing the hometown squad.
“My uncle is coming from Germany just to watch these games,” Sounders FC coach Brian Schmetzer said.
A pessimist will see high ticket prices that overestimated the interest of the tournament, clubs have no requirement of playing their top players, some odd starts times in order to appease overseas markets and the local side an underdog in two of its three matches.
Both views are fair and add to the uncertainty of how this tournament will ultimately be received.
“This might be the only time we play one of these teams in Seattle in our stadium, in our home,” Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas said. “So we’re going to have fun and at the end of the day, this is a game, it’s a tournament. Obviously, it’s a great opportunity, but we need to have fun with it. This is an unbelievable moment for us, for the whole city, for the whole team and we just need to look at it that way.”
Who to watch for?
Botafogo has three players on the way out to Nottingham Forest of the Premier League after the tournament. Seeing River Plate will be the last chance to watch 17-year-old young phenom Franco Mastantuono before his permanent move to Real Madrid. PSG might still be on a celebratory bender after winning the Champions League.
For the combo of star power and entertainment, Thursday’s match between Sounders FC and Atlético Madrid might be the game to see. Atleti is full of stars from Koke to Julián Alvarez to Jan Oblak to noted Seattle Mariners fan Antoine Griezmann.
Seattle will be a decided underdog in the match, but it could be an entertaining afternoon. And as Keller noted, the resources for the two clubs are vastly different, noting that the transfers last year of Alvarez and Conor Gallagher to Atleti were $160 million which might equate to a decade worth of combined salaries for the Sounders.
“We’re talking different ballparks on different planets,” he said.
Still, Keller thinks the Sounders can be competitive in all three matches.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they sneaked a draw or maybe even a win against somebody that came in sleeping,” Keller said.
What else to know?
• Games will be played on a temporary grass surface at Lumen Field, but unlike next year for the World Cup, this surface will be placed over the top of the current artificial surface. Next year, the artificial surface will be removed after the NFL season and the grass surface will be planted.
• While the Sounders’ matches will get most of the attention, the June 25 match between Inter Milan and River Plate is likely the best of the rest and could decide who advances to the knockout stage of the tournament.
• Inter Milan will use the Virginia Mason Athletic Center as one of its training locations for the tournament, while River Plate will be a co-resident at the Sounders training center in Renton.
• FIFA announced that video from any referee reviews will also be shown to fans inside the stadium. Semiautomated offside technology will also be used and referees will wear body cameras to be integrated with the television broadcasts.
Seattle Times staff reporter Andy Yamashita contributed to this report.