It started with a music video titled “Fiesta de Campeones” (The Champions Party) with lyrics that told us: “Football unites the world” and “It’s a FIFA party, we know how to party.”

In a Telemundo studio in Miami, things started strangely and became little less surreal for nearly two hours as FIFA oversaw the draw for its revamped Club World Cup competition, which begins June 15, 2025 in the United States and ends on June 32 Teams from all parts of the world take part.

The opening salvo was produced by multiple Emmy and Grammy winner Emilio Estefan. “We live in a time when we need to reunite the world,” Estefan said, addressing a room made up mostly of male soccer managers, before adding, “We live in America, the best country in the world.” The room clapped.

Our spokespeople for the pursuit of world reunification? First FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrived and then a guest video, which, he explained, came from a “very, very special friend and a big, big fan who would have loved to be with us today, but would be with us very soon.” becomes”.

The, Naturallywould be the new US President Donald Trump.

Infantino told us that football had united the world since 1930 with the Men’s World Cup and since 1991 with the Women’s World Cup, but that it was “missing something”: a competition to determine the best club team in the world. We should say that there is still no sign of a concrete date or location for a Women’s Club World Cup, only that FIFA said in May that it wanted to hold it in 2026.

Back to the men. Infantino said “two, three, four million fans” would come to the United States for next summer’s tournament, and then claimed that four to five billion people would be watching on television. That would mean that more than half the world’s population would be watching a tournament whose group stage draw produced some tantalizing fixtures (River Plate vs. Inter Milan and Manchester City vs. Juventus) but also games that barely caught the world’s attention would draw (think Auckland City versus Benfica, or Wydad versus Al Ain).

He did not explain how those numbers were estimated, and Infantino has not given a press conference since the World Cup in Qatar, so it is rare to get answers from him. On that occasion, he also avoided the red carpet – actually a green carpet of artificial turf, because football – so there was no opportunity to question the FIFA president about any aspect of this competition, particularly the players’ concerns about their increasing workload and the legal challenges from the players’ unions in planning the tournament.

Or whether it was really fair that Inter Miami, as winners of the MLS Supporters’ Shield for the best regular season record, was given the host spot in the competition rather than the winners of the MLS Cup. For many it seemed like a way to sneak Lionel Messi into the tournament. In the same week that the organization came under scrutiny over its assessment of Saudi Arabia’s bid for the 2034 World Cup, which will be confirmed next week, no FIFA employees were available for open questioning.

On stage, however, Infantino had a lot to say. This is a tournament he clearly has a personal mission for, but it hasn’t always felt like it’s actually happening. FIFA did not name U.S. venues for the tournament until late September and a broadcaster, DAZN, was only announced for global media rights on Wednesday, the day before the draw. That $1bn (£800m) deal, which makes all games free-to-air worldwide, has spurred Infantino’s move.

We learned that we had Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and apparently a buddy of Infantino’s, to thank for the gold-plated trophy for the tournament, which also has Infantino’s name engraved in two places on the ornament. Infantino explained that Kushner suggested turning to Tiffany & Co for the design.

Legendary Brazilian striker Ronaldo accompanied Infantino to unveil the trophy. But Infantino wasn’t finished there, because he then pulled out a golden key, a “FIFA key” that, as he said, “opens the door to people’s hearts.” It turned out that the key opens the trophy.

Trump and Infantino developed a bond during the U.S.’s joint bid with Mexico and Canada to host the 2026 World Cup, where Trump invited the FIFA president to his White House several times during his first presidency and made a series of written commitments that helped fuel the momentum the imperative of America’s way.

Kushner became the reference point for the bid team in the White House and The athlete recently revealed how a lunch organized by Kushner this year for Infantino and New York politicians and executives helped secure the World Cup final for MetLife Stadium. That relationship seemed warmer than ever as Kushner’s wife – Trump’s daughter Ivanka – and their son Theodore ceremoniously made the first pick of the drawing. Yes, you read that correctly.

Trump had previously expressed great praise for Infantino in his video message. The FIFA President introduced Trump as a speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020. The same week that the U.S. Senate unveiled the ground rules for Trump’s impeachment trial, Infantino compared Trump to an athlete and said he was a “competitor.” who “actually says what many people think, but more importantly: he does what he says”.

Maybe Trump rewarded that loyalty in this video. “He’s a winner,” Trump said of Infantino yesterday. “He is the president and I am the president. We have known each other for a long time and I feel very honored to have such a relationship because football is booming. My son Barron is a huge football fan. He’s actually a good player. I do not think so The Kind of good, but he’s a very good player.

“We will also see the World Cup very soon and I, along with Gianni, have been very responsible for getting it. It will be a fantastic thing.”

While Infantino avoided media attention, it was left to club officials to provide the audio. Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas said there was “no controversy” over awarding a spot to Inter Miami. MLS commissioner Don Garber was more diplomatic, emphasizing that it was FIFA’s decision. However, he said: “It was smart.” Garber added: “I support FIFA’s decision and am pleased to place Miami and Seattle (Sounders) and secure a global media deal that will allow the film to be distributed around the world show.”

Garber further described Messi’s impact as the equivalent of “Taylor Swift meets Michael Jackson meets Pele.” Mas said it was an “honor” for the President of the United States to be present at the opening game of the tournament in which his team will take part.

As for the DAZN deal, the rumored $1 billion, along with sponsorship money, will largely be split between the clubs. Only Hisense, AB InBev and Bank of America are on board as sponsors, which still leaves FIFA with a lot of work to do, especially since Infantino had previously sought up to $4 billion in media rights The athlete has reported that FIFA had hoped to attract 10 sponsors, with goals of more than $100 million per sponsor, and had difficulty attracting those numbers.

Many expect at least one major Saudi sponsor to come on board, while FIFA hopes the exposure of the free-to-air broadcast on DAZN will boost sponsorship numbers.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Milan are still missing from the tournament, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr failed to qualify. There has been some speculation that Saudi representative Al Hilal may seek a special transfer window to move players within their league to further increase their chances in the tournament.

“This is not the time to talk about players,” replied Esteve Calzada, the managing director of Al Hilal.

Is there a world where we could see Ronaldo move to Al Hilal for another tournament on the world stage and face Messi there? “It sounds like science fiction,” Calzada said. “Cristiano Ronaldo is not our player, so it is difficult to comment on that.”

It’s not just the Saudis who could be looking for reinforcements, as Mas said, Miami is hoping the MLS will further ease financial restrictions on its teams.

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who also serves as chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), which represents the interests of Europe’s leading teams, was enthusiastic about the tournament’s prospects. “You signed a great TV contract yesterday. This is fantastic for the clubs and for the competition.”

He described the tournament as a crucial opportunity to expand PSG’s brand in the United States and said it would be the first time competitive European games could be played on American soil.

As for the players’ workload, Al-Khelaifi stressed the need for coaches to rotate their players, while he also suggested that other nations could look at France and Germany, where the top flight has 18 teams instead of 20 and only one national team Cup competition. He said that while the Club World Cup represented an expansion of the calendar, it was “generating” in both commercial and sporting terms.

A day of rare harmony for FIFA. The challenge now, however, is how this income should be distributed within the clubs. “It will be a mosh pit,” said a senior executive in attendance, who spoke anonymously to protect relations. The ECA will push for European teams including Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City, Inter Milan and Juventus to get the biggest piece of the pie as they will claim to be the tournament’s value drivers, selling tickets and attracting attention. The challenge for FIFA is to figure out how much to guarantee participation and how much incentive to provide through success during the tournament.

It’s not just Europe that’s driving up the value, however, with Inter Miami’s Mas emphasizing the revenue his team will bring. “It’s a FIFA tournament. You will determine it. What I can say is that Inter Miami will fill our stadiums. I can guarantee you that Leo Messi and Inter Miami will do it.”

A manager at a European club said he expects “equity rather than equity” when it comes to dividing money between continents.

In such circumstances we must call upon a man who believes he can unite the world. Step forward, President Infantino.

(Top photo: Brennan Asplen / Getty Images)