Food For Thought....Doubts on European Soccer Dominance

[Enugu II]

While I would not go as far as this piece, today, in the Los Angeles Times, it does touch on things that I have always believed. While Europe is dominant in football, there are things that question this dominance especially when conjured in terms of (1) its totality, and (2) its unchangeability. Though, its early days but read on...... the assumed and conjured gap between Europe and the rest is just that "conjured" and far from definitive. The lack of definitiveness in human performance with its flow and ebb, the emergence constantly of young talent, the far from pure scientific distribution of top talents indicate that a definitive claim of superiority is in reality a fluke.

FIFA Club World Cup casting some doubts over European soccer dominance
https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/s ... -dominance

By Kevin Baxter
Staff Writer
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June 24, 2025 4 AM PT

Heimo Schirgi’s first big job in soccer was as head of operations for UEFA, the largest and most influential of the global game’s six geographic confederations. Part of that job involved planning and managing the UEFA Champions League, the largest and most influential club soccer competition in the world.

So when Schirgi moved into his current job as FIFA’s chief operating officer for the World Cup, he brought with him the knowledge that the Champions League, for all its prestige and gravitas, also had one weakness: its field was limited to the 55 soccer-playing countries of Europe.

“You have all these club competitions on a confederation, continental level, right?” he said. “But you don’t have it on a global level. You never had clubs from South America competing against European clubs in a serious tournament with high stakes.

“I’m personally interested how the rest of the world’s clubs are going to fare. There’s only one way to find out.”

That one way is the FIFA Club World Cup, which kicked off in the U.S. 10 days ago. And while the tournament has many flaws, it has gone a long way toward answering Schirgi’s curiosity. Europe, it seems, isn’t so dominant after all.

Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning European champion, lost to Botafogo, currently eighth in Brazil’s Serie A. Iconic English club Chelsea was beaten handily by Flamengo, another Brazilian team. Mexico’s Monterrey played Inter Milan, the Champions League runner-up, to a draw. Real Madrid, Europe’s most decorated club, tied Al Hilal, which finished second in the Saudi Pro League.

And Spanish power Atlético Madrid, which made the round of 16 in the Champions League, didn’t even make it out of the group stage.

Those results may still prove to be little more than a stumble on the way to an all-European final four. Or not. And that uncertainty, Schirgi insists, is why the Club World Cup was created.

“Our sport is a sport where underdogs have a genuine chance, right?” he said. “It’s not just the money game. We know that club soccer is at a very high level.”

The real winners through the tournament’s first 34 games have been Latin American teams: Five of the six South American clubs entered Monday unbeaten, as did Mexico’s Monterrey. And if there’s been a big loser, it’s arguably been Major League Soccer, which has shown it’s not ready to play with the big boys.

Although the U.S. league made history when Inter Miami beat Porto 2-1 in a group-stage game, marking the first time an MLS club has beaten a European team in a competitive match, the league’s other two entries — LAFC and the Seattle Sounders — combined for just two goals and were shut out three times in their first five games, all losses.

But if the first Club World Cup has proven to be surprisingly entertaining, even compelling, there have been a few hiccups. Attendance was hurt by several early weekday kickoffs and high admission prices, which forced FIFA to essentially start giving away tickets. The average announced attendance of 36,043 through the first 34 games was matched by nearly as many empty seats.

The weather has also proven difficult with several players complaining about the heat and humidity. It was so bad in Cincinnati last Saturday, Borussia Dortmund’s substitutes watched the first half on TV in the dressing room. And it’s only going to get worse. Temperatures are expected to top 100 degrees on Tuesday in New Jersey, where Porto plays Al Ahly, and an excessive heat warning has been issued in Philadelphia, where Chelsea and Esperance de Tunis meet.

High 90s temperatures are also forecast Tuesday for Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C., where afternoon games are scheduled. That, however, will serve as a wake-up call for next summer’s World Cup, which will be played in similar conditions.

Perhaps the most complex problem FIFA faces in attempting to make the Club World Cup a significant quadrennial event, however, is the crowded fixture schedule. The World Cup will expand from 64 to 104 games next summer. Recent years have seen tournaments such as the Nations League added to the international calendar while club competitions including the Champions League, Europa League and Club World Cup expanded.

Others, such as the Leagues Cup, were created out of whole cloth.

As a result some players have played more than 70 matches for club and country in the last year. The fixture schedule has become so packed that the only place left to accommodate a monthlong tournament such as the Club World Cup was the traditional early summer break between one European season and the next.

FIFPRO, the global union representing soccer players, has cited scientific research in its call for a mandatory four-week break each year. FIFA, the Club World Cup organizer, responded by offering a $1 billion prize-money purse to get teams to play through that break.

“With the introduction of the new Champions League format and the new Club World Cup, which extends for over a month, the workload on teams and players has increased significantly,” said Giuseppe Marotta, chairman and chief executive officer of Inter Milan. “However these competitions also represent a huge opportunity in terms of visibility and revenue. For this reasons, they must be safeguarded.

“Adjustments should instead be made to the rest of the calendar to lighten the overall load.”

Marotta suggests shortening league schedules, which means diminishing domestic competitions while giving more power to the likes of FIFA and UEFA. That could be a slippery slope, one that would make the world’s game less local and more global.

But if the Club World Cup follows the trajectory of the Champions League, Schirgi thinks that’s a trade worth making.

“The beginnings of the Champions League, it was not always this huge, great event,” he said. “There is a lot of growth that needs to happen and a lot of education. We are super excited that we are part of history.”

You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

[Coach]

As refreshing as it would be to see a final four made up of a rainbow of nations, the likelihood is unlikely. When it comes to the crunch, the comparative advantage of the European sides will see them through. Most likely. The energy and enthusiasm of the Brazilians has been a joy to behold. What’s the motivation? Is it pride in the shirt or the opportunity for advertisement? Some will be cherrypicked and off to Europe by the tournaments close. The master must have his fill.

[Damunk]

As refreshing as it would be to see a final four made up of a rainbow of nations, the likelihood is unlikely. When it comes to the crunch, the comparative advantage of the European sides will see them through. Most likely. The energy and enthusiasm of the Brazilians has been a joy to behold. What’s the motivation? Is it pride in the shirt or the opportunity for advertisement? Some will be cherrypicked and off to Europe by the tournaments close. The master must have his fill.

I think it’s the latter.
Plus I believe the South Americans feel they have something to prove with all the attention perpetually on European clubs. Just like European clubs are graded over a time frame of a few years based on performance, it’s likely that this WCC will allow for a more accurate rating of clubs on a global scale on a similar basis.

Do the Europeans take this tournament as seriously as the rest?
Time will tell.

[txj]

As refreshing as it would be to see a final four made up of a rainbow of nations, the likelihood is unlikely. When it comes to the crunch, the comparative advantage of the European sides will see them through. Most likely. The energy and enthusiasm of the Brazilians has been a joy to behold. What’s the motivation? Is it pride in the shirt or the opportunity for advertisement? Some will be cherrypicked and off to Europe by the tournaments close. The master must have his fill.

The writer argues from both sides to such an extent he might be danfo driver's lost broda, adept at taking it from both sides...

The competition was created by Infantino to muscle in on UEFAs money making from the CL..If the writer has a curiosity itch, I suggest he watches the Copa Lib.

The writer then creates a straw man and then begins to argue the issue of dominance, with rider after rider that we're back to the danfo driver again! "Sir, how do you want it"? Tutti Frutti ice-cream!!!

The world cup; yes The Mundiale is the decider of deciders. The capo de tuti of all football. Everybody comes with their own, and their best. And when the music starts to sing, ratata, ratata, everybody are dance...

Without prompts, or WWE entrances. From Uzbekistan to Germany, everyone is "carrying". Be it an Uzi or an AK.

All man come to fight!!!

And there is no Duckland from Sidney..

Nor a weaselly Guardiola, or Alonso doing preseason in advance.
Or Enzo Maresca taking furtive glances at that pasta Bolognese slow cooking in the corner, while his players roast in the Philly sun...

Let me say it again.

There is only one Mundial...Nothing else comes close.

[Coach]

^Hilarious. For the European “club owners”, money is on the mind and little else. The players, how bothered are they? Is a space for a Club World Cup Winner badge reserved on the swimming trunks? Nevertheless, it’s a tournament that’s there to be won. Someone will win it. With the prize money on offer, this will grow, it can only grow.