July 2 – FIFA has announced that cumulative attendance at the expanded Club World Cup has now passed two million fans – a milestone they’ve hailed as a marker of success. But scratch beneath the headline figure and the Club is less flattering.
Across the 48 group-stage games, stadium capacity averaged just 56.35%, and despite the tournament moving into its knockout rounds, the needle hasn’t shifted much. The Round of 16 saw the average capacity creep up to just 63.28% – hardly the kind of sellout fever FIFA hoped for. Four of those matches drew crowds that didn’t even fill half the stadium.
One of the more glaring examples came in the Inter Milan vs Fluminense tie, which mustered just 26% of stadium capacity – an embarrassing turnout that not even FIFA’s preferred angles and camera placement could disguise on the official stream.
Despite this, FIFA remains focused on the raw figures. They claim 1.5 million tickets had been sold by the time the tournament passed its halfway mark and trumpeted the arrival of their “one millionth fan” through the gates at match 29, Juventus vs Wydad. Now, following match 56 — Dortmund’s win over Monterrey — the cumulative attendance has surpassed two million, with FIFA awarding its two millionth fan with a photo alongside Mexican legends Javier and Luis Hernandez.
In total, around 3.5 million tickets were available for the tournament, meaning FIFA have a lot of ground to make up with just seven matches left to play.
But while two million is not insignificant, it’s also not the victory lap FIFA might suggest. The backdrop for these numbers is a tournament played in some of the largest, most modern stadiums on the planet. The optics of half-full arenas, even during knockout fixtures, undermine the very narrative of a global, must-watch competition.
The tournament will finish with more than 1 million tickets unsold out of the roughly 3.5 million available at the start.
The early elimination of sides with larger travelling fanbases — notably Manchester City — has also taken the edge off. Al Hilal’s progression may have been a great thing for the advertisement of the CWC as a balanced competition, though it does leave the next round lacking a bit of star power to get bums on seats.
FIFA may continue spotlighting favourable numbers, but the reality remains hard to ignore: despite a rebrand, a reboot, and a record number of games, the Club World Cup still has a long way to go to achieving ‘must-watch’ status with live audiences either in stadiums or on streaming channels.
Round of 16 attendances:
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1751963582labto1751963582ofdlr1751963582owedi1751963582sni@g1751963582niwe.1751963582yrrah1751963582