The Athletic reported on Wednesday that “tens of thousands” of seats at the 65,326-capacity Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, remain unsold for the 8pm ET match between football superstar Lionel Messi’s MLS club and Egyptian side Al Ahly.
FIFA rejected a suggestion that fewer than 20,000 tickets had been sold, insisting the number is “much higher” but declining to provide a specific total.
“We are introducing many new, successful clubs from all over the world to the world through this tournament being staged in the 11 cities across the United States,” FIFA said in a statement. “Overall, we anticipate great attendances throughout the competition for this first-ever edition – a tournament that we believe will grow edition-on-edition.”
As of Tuesday night, tickets for that game had dropped to $55 on Ticketmaster – half of what they were going for last month. The cheapest seat available after the tournament draw in December was $349 but had dropped to $230 by December, per The Athletic.
The 32-team FIFA Club World Cup runs through to July 13 and includes MLS clubs Inter Miami, Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC, plus global powerhouses like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Another wonderful holiday is approaching for football fans. The names of all the teams participating in the FIFA Club World Cup, which is being held in a new format for the first time this year, have been announced. Until today, there was a fierce competition for the last place, and this place went to the American team “Los Angeles”. “Los Angeles” defeated one of the strongest Mexican clubs “America” with a score of 2:1 and won a ticket to the important competition.
This prestigious tournament will start on June 15 in the USA and will be held between the 32 strongest club teams from all over the world. According to the new format, the teams will be divided into 8 groups, and the two best teams from each group will go to the play-off stage.
Compared to the previous format, the number of participants has increased significantly this year. This innovation is aimed at providing fans with more interesting and intense matches. Now we will get to know all the participants of the championship.
The strongest clubs in Europe will participate in this tournament as representatives of UEFA. Among them are English giants Chelsea and Manchester City, Spain's top three - Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Germany's Bayern Munich and France's Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain. Italy will be represented by Inter and Juventus, Portugal by Porto and Benfica, and Austria by Red Bull Salzburg.
Among the teams from the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Brazilian clubs stand out. Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo will participate in the championship. Argentina will have two big rivals - River Plate and Boca Juniors.
North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) are also sending their best clubs. Among them are the Mexican clubs Monterrey and Pachuca, the American clubs Seattle Sounders, Inter Miami and Los Angeles, which recently qualified for the tournament.
Among the clubs from the Asian continent (AFC), the strong Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal, the Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds, the UAE club Al-Ain and the South Korean club Ulsan Hyundai will compete.
As always, the strong New Zealand team Auckland City will participate from the Oceania Football Confederation. The honor of the African continent (CAF) will be defended by the Egyptian club Al-Ahly, the Moroccan club Wydad, the Tunisian club Esperance and the South African club Mamelodi Sundowns.
FIFA also provides special privileges to the clubs for this competition. A special transfer window will open from June 1 to June 10 before the World Cup, during which participating teams will have the opportunity to strengthen their squads. This will further increase the intensity of the tournament.
The new format of the Club World Cup is a very important opportunity not only for football fans, but also for the players themselves. Through this major competition, football clubs will have the opportunity to further increase their prestige, as well as provide unforgettable moments to their fans.
Thus, the organizers are taking all measures to ensure that this tournament, which is eagerly awaited by fans around the world, is interesting in every way. This year's Club World Cup is expected to be a bright football holiday for all of us.
