On October 2 2024 FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, announced the revamping of the FIFA Club World Cup. A competition that was known as sort of a mini-tournament that consisted of 7-8 teams who were the winners of their respective continental championships as well the host nation’s league champions:

  • UEFA Champions League winner (Europe)
  • CONMEBOL Libertadores winner (South America)
  • CONCACAF Champions League winner (North & Central America)
  • AFC Champions League winner (Asia)
  • CAF Champions League winner (Africa)
  • OFC Champions League winner (Oceania)
  • Host nation's league champion

The competition itself only lasts about 10–12 days and normally took place around Mid-December, the reasons for this:

  • European calendar: December was one of the few international windows where UEFA clubs could participate without massive disruption to domestic leagues or the UEFA Champions League.
  • Off-season in some regions: For clubs from South America and Asia, December often coincided with the end or break in their season.
  • Weather and TV audiences: December offered favourable broadcasting slots and travel conditions for host countries like Japan or the UAE.

With the introduction of the new Club World Cup format, the competition is now treated as a major end of season like the FIFA Club World and the Euros Championship. This very decision can be used as an argument to the question, “Is this too much football?” The Club World Cup will be a competition that will be held every 4 years much like the Euros and FIFA World Cup. This may cause a fatigue and be an overall health risk for top players when you also consider the national cup competitions that take place in the middle of a footballing season, such as the African Cup of Nations and the UFEA Nations League.

The addition of the new Club World Cup can been seen as a double edged sword for top teams that have had very successful seasons like PSG as a perfect example; PSG ended the 2024/25 season winning the Ligue 1 title, Trophée des Champions title, Coupe de France title and UEFA Champions League (completing the Quadruple). Following such a busy season they also had to prepare for the Club World Cup in which they also made it all the way to the finals of that competition as well. In addition to that, the UEFA Nations League Final stages took plays before the Club World Cup and 9 of PSG’s players were selected to participate in that competition which guaranteed they would be playing 2 matches in the form of the Semi-Finals and Finals or 3rd place round. That is quite a lot of football with little time for rest since most clubs start their pre-season friendlies more or less a week after the Club World Cup final, which can be seen as PSG being disadvantaged by missing out on Pre-Season since their players are required to have mandatory rest for at least 2 weeks.

It doesn’t stop there since PSG were so successful last season, they will have additional matches to participate in going into next season such as playing in the UEFA Super Cup Final since they were the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the 2026 World Cup is taking place at the end of the next season. So their top players, who get selected to represent their countries, may become fatigued both mentally and physically going into this upcoming season. The Euros Championship was also last year so as it stands there will be 3 consecutive years of major post season competitions; Euro 2024, Club World Cup 2025 and FIFA World Cup 2026 and then fast forward 2 years and the cycle begins again; Euro 2028, Club World Cup 2029 and FIFA World Cup 2030. FIFPRO, worldwide representative organization for professional footballers, had their concerns about the Club World Cup back in 2023 where they brought up most of the previously mentioned issues such as increasing risks of injuries, fatigue, burnout, and long-term performance decline.

All of this raises the question, is this too much football and are top teams suffering from their own success?