Despite the reluctance of some European teams to participate in the first FIFA Club World Cup, the development of the competition and the arrival of the final phase showed that the participants, and especially the fans, enjoyed what they saw in this inaugural edition.

While the Latin American public made up the majority of ticket buyers, Real Madrid and PSG had an average attendance of more than 60,000 people, while Bayern Munich exceeded 40,000, demonstrating that the fan base of European clubs extends around the world.

One of the main supporters of the World Cup has been Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid. "I am one of those who fought the hardest to make this a reality. We see everything with the conviction that it will be a success and we will contribute to it," he said at the start.

At the same time, LaLiga president Javier Tebas thinks otherwise. He has been one of the most vociferous critics: "It is a health problem for the approximately 250 players who participate in these competitions, who are overworked. My aim is that there are no more Club World Cups; there are no dates".

For added security, experts assess how much the FIFA World Cup could change the image of the sport globally, especially in terms of institutional opportunities for teams and partnerships with brands and sponsors.

"Its birth in the digital age and during the evolution of sports asset marketing makes it a model that will easily survive," says Renê Salviano, CEO of Heatmap and a sports marketing specialist. "It is FIFA's attempt to create a global Champions League, expanding the competitive, commercial and audience horizons of club football beyond Europe, which currently concentrates attention, investment and talent. If successful, it could represent a turning point: football will cease to be essentially a 'European business with a global audience' and become a genuinely global business in every respect: technical, financial and media," corroborates Ivan Martinho, professor of sports marketing at ESPM.

Joaquim Lo Prete, national director of Absolut Sport, a sports experience agency and official partner of Fluminense and Botafogo for the World Cup, believes that the growing interest in soccer among Americans has caught the attention of those in charge of the sport worldwide, which has led the country to host the Copa America, the Club World Cup and the FIFA World Cup. "It is a strategic, political and economic movement that has the potential to change the way Americans view soccer and also to change the way the world views America in relation to soccer," he says.

Henrique Borges, executive vice president of sales, marketing and new business at Somos Young, a company that uses cutting-edge technology to serve fan partners, believes that the main message conveyed by the World Cup is FIFA's understanding that something different needed to be done to make the football product more attractive. "This edition will serve as a testing ground for innovations that can liven up competitions, such as the implementation of AI in the use of an advanced version of the semi-automated offside technology that was already used in 2024, the installation of body cameras on referees connected to live broadcasts, and even the use of tablets by technical staff to request player substitutions during matches, eliminating the paperwork that has been used for decades."

The amounts offered by FIFA for this first edition far exceed those paid for the 2022 World Cup, which had a total prize fund of 420 million euros. This has to do with FIFA's latest negotiations with sponsors, the main one being the deal with DAZN, the exclusive free-to-air streaming rights holder of the matches, worth 1 billion euros.

The other four sponsorships secured by FIFA are Bank of America, considered one of the world's leading companies, which also sponsors the 2026 World Cup; the world's largest brewer, AB InBev, owner of well-known brands such as Budweiser and Michelob ULTRA; multinational beverage company Coca-Cola; and Chinese electronics company Hisense.

From 2024, the United States will host some of the world's major football competitions. In mid-2024, the Copa America kicked off, culminating in Argentina's victory. In mid-2025, the aforementioned Super Club World Cup will be held, and in 2026, the World Cup, with several North American states as the main venues.

"The US is the world leader in the sports business, from marketing to technology. It is the largest advertising market on the planet, with the greatest sophistication and large international companies operating locally. The more the US gets involved in soccer, the more this knowledge and resources feed back into the global soccer production chain. The trend there points to faster growth, due to the higher proportion of native Latinos and even more traditional Americans (WASP) who consume this sport," says Alexandre Vasconcellos, regional manager of Flashscore.

"The Club World Cup represents not only a transformation on the pitch, but also behind the scenes. The professionalisation of sports management, combined with the digitalisation of processes and the growing use of artificial intelligence, is becoming a competitive advantage for clubs and leagues. Institutions that invest in infrastructure, data and innovation, often supported by AI tools for performance analysis, contract management and fan relations, are better prepared to take advantage of the commercial and institutional opportunities offered by competitions such as these," says Alexandre Lessa, Keeggo's manager of research and technological development.

"The US market is becoming the epicenter of a globalized audience. By hosting the world's most important soccer tournaments, the US is establishing itself as a destination for global sports tourism, offering a massive showcase for soccer that connects fans from all continents in one place. FIFA's strategy creates a three-year saga, ideal for boosting US interest in the medium term, which can be sustained in the long term with the potential growth of MLS, already evidenced by the presence of Messi and other stars," says Thales Rangel Mafia, marketing manager at Multimarcas Consorcios.

In the midst of all this, the main matches of their competitions are still being held, further enlivening the daily life of these cities and, consequently, being the focus of attention of tourists who come to their appeal.

To give you an idea of this expansion, FIFA has moved its operations to Miami from 2023, considering the investments made by the country's top league, Major League Soccer (MLS), especially after the arrival of some stars, such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, to Inter Miami.

More than 100 employees of the world soccer governing body have moved from its headquarters in Switzerland to Coral Gables, where the organization's legal, audit, compliance and risk management departments will be located.

Could all this mean that the United States will become the new center of soccer? Sports management and marketing experts analyzed the matter and offered their perspectives from a business perspective.

"Despite advances in medicine and other sciences, none of us will live long enough to see the United States as the 'center of soccer'. Its relevance will grow in the country, but it will depend largely on the weight of Latinos and Europeans in its demographics. What made soccer what it is, the way its clubs were created and how cities, countries and fans connected with each of them, has no equivalent in North American culture or in the way its natives relate to sport. They will remain the richest country in the world, they will continue to lead innovation in stadiums, broadcasting and marketing, they will have greater influence in the athlete transfer market, they will always have the best infrastructure to host major world tournaments, but they will not be," warns Thiago Freitas, chief operating officer of Roc Nation Sports in Brazil.