Several teams reportedly want to run back the Club World Cup every two years

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has wrapped up, but according to an ESPN report, several teams don’t want to wait four more years to get back into it. According to the report, several clubs in Europe and South America - with Real Madrid being the only named team - have spoken with FIFA about having the Club World Cup every two years in an effort to bring more revenue to their clubs.

FIFA had $1 billion to distribute among the participating teams and did it in a way that allowed some teams, like Real Madrid, to earn more money than others. Real Madrid earned $82.5 million in their run to the semifinals, while champions Chelsea FC took home the (replica) trophy and $114.6 million in revenue. With money like that, it’s no wonder that teams would want this to happen more frequently than every four years. Other teams in Europe and South America have also approached FIFA representatives expressing interest in not waiting until 2029 to hold this tournament again.

FIFA’s issue? They don’t think they can generate $1 billion (or more) to distribute to teams if they do this on a biennial basis. Currently, the next Club World Cup is set for 2029, with Brazil and Qatar expressing interest in serving as the host of that tournament. However, despite several clubs reportedly desire more opportunities to play in this tournament, FIFA deems a biennial version of the tournament this size to be “unfeasible” in terms of generating the revenue that would be necessary to keep these teams happy.

South American teams - namely the 4 Brazilian participants in Fluminense, Flamengo, Botafogo, and Palmeiras - did so well in the tournament, they were able to generate revenue much higher than the team’s total salary, which really helps those teams continue to remain competitive. They were the big winners of the tournament, and reportedly they wouldn’t mind running it back to try and bring in even more revenue that is vital for their club operations.

Despite FIFA’s belief that having the Club World Cup every two years under this expanded format is “unfeasible,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino has lauded the success of the tournament, particularly their ability to fill large NFL stadiums for the final few matches of the tournament. “All the teams who have come here have been happy – some teams who didn’t come here because they didn’t qualify were calling us to see how they could qualify,” Gianni Infantino said before the Club World Cup Final. “Of course, I would have liked to have Liverpool here, Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona, Tottenham, AC Milan, Napoli … but you have to qualify and there are different criteria.”

For now, the Club World Cup will work to do a better job at alleviating the concerns of several teams whose players felt overworked after long seasons. If FIFA does select Qatar to host the 2029 edition of the tournament, which feels to be in the cards, they will have to once again mess with the football calendar as the matches could not be played during the summer in a climate that is even warmer than the United States.

Many of the complaints from participating European teams during the 2025 Club World Cup centered over the weather which made teams play in oppressive daytime heat and strong thunderstorms that affected several matches. It even prompted Infantino to declare that the indoor venues for next summer’s World Cup will be utilized even more for daytime matches in an effort to avoid the heat, humidity, and severe weather which plagued many matches in the Club World Cup group stage.

Moving the Club World Cup with 32 teams to the fall or winter months will affect club seasons throughout the world and would mean leagues would have to alter schedules to allow their teams to play. Leagues are still recovering from the schedule changes that had to occur for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and many European leagues especially have been outspoken about their extreme hesitance in altering their schedule again to accommodate the Club World Cup knowing they would have to do it again just a few years later for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Still, money talks, and teams like Real Madrid want to get more fluent in revenue. There are a lot of factors that would need to be hashed out and logistics that once again would need to be altered. But, FIFA is likely happy that some of the bigger clubs in the world want this tournament to happen again quicker than they’re probably ready to accommodate.