Andrew Wilsher: The Club World Cup could hold all the magic of its international counterpart if we give it a chance

The wait is finally over. After 312 painstaking hours (13 days) without top-tier football, the 2025 Club World Cup starts in the United States.

The new-look competition has divided opinion. Some have expressed excitement and enthusiasm while others lambast it and call it a waste of time. I am firmly in the former camp and believe it is not only a long overdue revamp of what has traditionally been inconsequential, but also that it is the next step in growing football fandom across the pond.

As managing editor of the Racing Post’s American cousin Pickswise, I’ve watched soccer – sorry, football – interest and coverage grow markedly in the past five years, and seen more and more people swapping the egg for the sphere.

Association football has often been an afterthought for many Americans, even after they hosted the 1994 World Cup. But things feel different now, and not even Mauricio Pochettino’s struggles with the men’s national team can derail the momentum.

For evidence of that, you only need to look at the MLS, which has expanded rapidly over the last decade from 19 clubs in 2014 to 30 in the 2025 season, and its organisers may even have their eyes on introducing promotion and relegation.

The concept of going up or down a league is fairly alien in American sports, but has been met with excitement and interest through renowned docuseries Welcome to Wrexham. 

The programme has been a major hit across America and bolstered interest to the extent that Paul Mullin signing a new contract with the Red Dragons was the second most-read news story on ESPN a few years ago.

People may ridicule a nation falling in love with the beautiful game through the Wrexham doc and sports comedy series Ted Lasso, but it actually isn’t all that different from how F1’s popularity exploded following the release of Netflix series Drive to Survive.

Football has never had so much airtime on US TV, with more Premier League games being available and easier to access than in the UK. On top of that, CBS paid top dollar to advertise their Champions League coverage during this year’s Super Bowl, while Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami saw viewership and ticket prices for their games skyrocket.

With two major tournaments on the horizon, football has the opportunity to finally break into the mainstream across North America and challenge the “big four” of American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey.

While many may scoff at this new incarnation, the previous version of the Club World Cup was an absolute farce compared to this new format, which is a golden opportunity to replicate the greatest international sporting spectacle on the planet – the World Cup.

Those complaining about Bayern Munich facing amateur outfit Auckland City will be the same ones who will be excited to see Uzbekistan and Jordan make their debut at next year’s international equivalent.

The unlikely underdog is a World Cup staple – just look at how everyone fell in love with Ghana in 2010 – and who’s to say there won’t be similar sentiment if we see Mamelodi Sundowns or Ulsan HD make a run?

There have been countless previously unknown players who burst on the scene to secure big-money deals shortly after World Cups. Even more established players such as James Rodriguez in 2014 and Cody Gakpo in 2022 propelled their reputation during a summer tournament, and who’s to say there isn’t a left-back at Esperance de Tunis who’s about to become a household name?

The point is, many things make the international World Cup so special and exciting, and there’s a good chance we will see all of those develop in the club competition as well.

Getting the opportunity to see teams with the pedigree of Boca Juniors, River Plate and Flamengo battle Europe’s elite should be viewed as a treat and not a chore and if the choice is football or no football over the next month, then I’ll take football any way you want to serve it to me.

Read more from our top sports columnists:

Club World Cup 2025: All you need to know, schedule and odds 

Club World Cup 2025 explained: format, teams, host cities and prize money 

Club World Cup 2025: how are the bookies approaching Fifa's new-look competition? 

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