June 20 – Jürgen Klopp has never been one to mince words, and the former Liverpool manager’s latest assessment of FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup is typically brutal.
Speaking to Die Welt, the German delivered a scathing verdict on Gianni Infantino’s pet project: “It’s a pointless competition. Whoever wins it will be the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league.”
Klopp’s voice carries particular weight – few managers command more respect across the game, and fewer still have navigated the relentless demands of elite competition with such sustained success.
“There are people who have never been involved in the day-to-day business of football and are now coming up with ideas,” Klopp said, a thinly-veiled shot at FIFA’s decision-makers who seem increasingly detached from the sport’s practical realities.
The 57-year-old’s most serious concern centres on player welfare. Today’s stars are already pushed to breaking point, and Klopp fears the expanded tournament could prove catastrophic: “It’s too many games. I fear that next season we will see injuries like never before. If not then, they’ll come during or after the Club World Cup. There’s no real recovery for those involved, neither physically nor mentally.”
His warnings come at a critical juncture. Qatar’s rumoured bid for the 2029 Club World Cup would almost certainly force another winter tournament, throwing European football’s carefully constructed calendar into chaos. With the 2034 World Cup potentially following the same pattern, the sport faces an unprecedented scheduling crisis.
European clubs, already stretched thin by domestic and continental commitments, are preparing for battle.
Klopp may have stepped away from the Liverpool dugout, but his influence hasn’t diminished. When football’s civil war over the calendar intensifies – and it will – expect the German to be leading the charge against FIFA’s relentless commercialisation of the beautiful game.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1751278090labto1751278090ofdlr1751278090owedi1751278090sni@o1751278090fni1751278090