The Club World Cup will be the most global football tournament ever

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FIFA's latest bonanza offers hope to unheralded teams around the world

T club champions of the world in 1888, Renton Football Club, the holders of the Scottish Cup, had to win just one match against their English counterparts, West Bromwich Albion. The Renton players, who were amateurs employed at a local printing works, were reportedly fuelled to victory by port and eggs. Though the contest involved only two nations, Renton's "world" title was not absurd. At the time, hardly anyone outside Britain played football seriously.

Since then, the competition for the title of the world's best club has stiffened somewhat. On June 14th the latest reincarnation of the Club World Cup kicks off in America, featuring 32 clubs from six continents. , the event's organisers and the game's global governing body, touts this expanded tournament as a "massive new platform" that will yield "sportive and financial benefits" -- including a pot of prize money worth $1bn.

Whereas the previous format was an annual mid-season jolly featuring only seven teams, the revamped quadrennial Club World Cup has the same structure as the one for international teams. Its architects hope that it might eventually become as popular. It will certainly be more global. expects players from nearly 90 countries to take part -- more than the number that have participated in all the World Cups for national teams.

Countries that are usually hard-nosed about immigrants welcome them in their domestic football leagues. There are more than 1,000 Brazilians, 200 Spaniards and 100 Nigerians playing in Asia's top divisions. Even Brazil, the world's biggest source of football talent, is home to dozens of foreign players, from as far away as Angola and South Korea. According to data from the Football Observatory, a research outfit, the average number of expats at clubs around the world increased from 5.4 in 2017 to 6.5 in 2023 -- a rise of 20%. As globalisation retreats in many domains, it is thriving in the beautiful game.

It is not just players who move across borders: football culture spills over, too. The sport's tribalism intoxicates fans everywhere. At matches in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, fans of Persija chant songs in Bahasa Indonesia, the local language, to tunes from European terraces. Even the unsavoury aspects of the game are imported: matches between Persija and Persib Bandung, their rivals, often descend into violence off the pitch. You can find posses of "ultras" -- fanatical supporters -- in Sudan, Syria and El Salvador.

There are more than 4,000 professional clubs worldwide, from Adelaide United in Australia to Zanaco in Zambia. Yet even as club football has spread far beyond its origins in Europe, the continent remains the sport's centre of gravity. Teams from Europe are simply richer and better than those in the rest of the world. That gulf will be evident on June 15th when Bayern Munich take on Auckland City. Bayern, the German champions, earned €765.4m ($878m) in revenue last season; the team's stadium hosts 75,000 fans every week. Their star forward, Harry Kane, is one of the best players in the world. By contrast, Auckland from New Zealand earned $650,000 and had an average attendance of 400. Angus Kilkolly, one of the team's forwards, has a day job at a painting firm.

Such global disparities have become entrenched. According to Deloitte, a consultancy, Real Madrid of Spain, the world's richest club, raked in around €1bn in the 2023-24 season, more than five times the amount earned by Flamengo, the wealthiest club in Brazil and the only non-European one in the top 30. As a result, talent around the world is hoovered up by European clubs at ever-younger ages. Pelé, a Brazilian considered the greatest of his generation, spent his entire career during the 1960s and 1970s playing outside Europe. Diego Maradona, an Argentine considered Pelé's successor, was signed by Barcelona when he was 21. The next generational talent, Lionel Messi, also of Argentina, moved to Europe when he was 13.

European dominance has played out on the pitch in previous Club World Cups, leading to 16 of the past 17 titles. At the upcoming edition, the top nine favourites are all European. Some fans worry that this superiority could deprive the tournament of any suspense and, consequently, meaning.

The biggest criticism of the tournament, however, concerns its motivation. Many fans, especially in Europe, see the bonanza as an attempted money grab by . The World Cup for national teams is the most popular sporting competition of all -- but because it is held only every four years, 's projected annual revenue of $3.3bn is dwarfed by the $7.6bn earned by , the European governing body, which runs the annual Champions League for its clubs.

Challenging the Champions League's prestige has proved difficult even before a ball has been kicked at the Club World Cup. Tickets have been hard to sell; struggled to secure a big broadcast deal leading up to the tournament. In December , a streaming service, finally bought the rights for $1bn -- well short of 's initial target of around $4bn. Saudi Arabia, which is deepening its involvement in football, is sponsoring the tournament via its Public Investment Fund.

Still, non-European teams are excited about the tournament. South American football fans are always eager to show they can beat the Europeans. In Argentina and Brazil, the local leagues have adjusted their schedules to help their clubs succeed in the Club World Cup. And though the favourites are all European, betting odds suggest that there is still a roughly 20% chance that one of the other teams could win the whole thing. The best of the rest would be comfortably mid-table in most European leagues, according to ratings by Opta, a sports-statistics firm.

For many clubs, dribbling on the same pitch as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain already counts as success. Global coverage of the sport may be skewed towards Europe, but just as there is more to music than Taylor Swift, so there is more to football than the Premier League. The tournament will help Asian clubs "define themselves on the global football map", says Windsor John, the secretary of , Asia's football confederation. The sentiment is echoed by Luxolo September of , the African body, who believes the tournament can change global perceptions of football on the continent.

Europeans have set aside their cynicism before. Many initially sniffed at the World Cup. Today that tournament, along with the Champions League, offers fans the thrills of high-quality competition. The contests also give improbable competitors a moment to shine. Europe's elite sits atop a vast pyramid of unheralded clubs, who plod on in the belief that one day they too will taste some sort of glory. Such hope is, after all, what sustains sport -- and it may fuel the Club World Cup. ■