The 2025 Club World Cup keeps the football machine churning, but the overarching impact could potentially derail the upcoming season for top clubs.

An entire season for a fan of a top club could drain out their energy by the time the campaign ends, and even the supporters feel the need for a break from the game. One can only imagine what the players who give their all on the pitch feel about it.

When the UEFA Nations League was introduced back in 2018, many criticised the need for an additional tournament from FIFA which did put a lot of pressure on the players. FIFA have come up with a solution to keep the football machine churning with the 2025 Club World Cup plan.

Before this, every year a rather modest Club World Cup mini-tournament used to be played, which barely featured enough teams and often went under the radar. However, the newest format has the blueprint of a full-fledged tournament consisting of 32 teams, carefully chosen across continents based on their performances over the past five years.

The CWC does offer a chance for regular Premier League or European Football-centric fans to get a glimpse of some other competitive teams around the world. There will be question marks about whether the top European clubs participating in this competition will perform at the best or treat this tournament as a part of their pre-season training.

There’s the financial element, with the BBC stating that clubs are set to gain from a pool of around £775 million, with the winner making as much as £97 million without including participation fees. Hence, clubs will view this as a chance to boost their revenues, with those teams reaching the very end expected to rack up around the £140-150 million mark.

However, in the quest for chasing the Club World Cup title, the top clubs across Europe’s top five leagues taking part in this competition do run the risk of derailing their season or at least a part of it. There will be plenty of consequences ahead of the new campaign, especially for those going deep into the CWC.

Top clubs in danger of derailing their regular season

Manchester City have endured a bad horrific season due to multiple injuries and a loss of form. Ballon d’Or winner Rodri exemplifies their struggles, with the midfielder competing in a long season for the club before starring for Spain at the Euros. On his first start for Pep Guardiola’s side he suffered an ACL rupture, which has kept him out for the remainder of the season barring maybe the last few games as he returned.

Heading to the Club World Cup, Manchester City will look at the financial side and competitive angle to get their hands on another trophy, this time on the international stage. Considering they end up going the distance, and make the final of the CWC, how are they going to be ready for the opening weekend of the Premier League season?

The question is not specifically pointed at Manchester City but also at the likes of Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Juventus and PSG. Other gigantic clubs like Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are also part of this equation, as questions about their preparation for the new season will be asked.

Sticking with the Premier League, Manchester City and Chelsea are expected to be around a title challenge, but unlike Arsenal or Liverpool, they are not going to get time to prepare with ease for the new season. How much will that impact their campaign remains the question, as undoubtedly the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal could have a headstart over those in the CWC.

The concern should be extended to all major European clubs in the Club World Cup. For instance, PSG or Bayern Munich can rely on their dominant squad to stay big in their respective league, the likes of Juventus or Borussia Dortmund could suffer in theirs.

Manchester City and Chelsea, in particular. are part of the Premier League that has had one of the competitive race for Champions League places. Those teams are set for a long campaign ahead on all fronts, and historically speaking, they might suffer for results, at least in the early phase of the campaign due to a lack of a proper pre-season and more importantly, rest for their key players.

Is Club World Cup the new pre-season? What about player welfare?

Alternatively, there are suggestions that the preparation for the CWC could act as a pre-season of sorts for those teams. On paper, it may seem logical considering the teams will be training better than in any pre-season given the competitive nature of the CWC, and that could aid the groups to an extent ahead of the new campaign.

However, the bigger question is about players and how drained they might be by the time the CWC ends. It’s not to say that every other European side will go the distance, however, even if they end up in the quarterfinals or semifinals, they are not gaining too much time compared to those heading to the Final.

Players from clubs not participating in the competition will get a significant summer break, and will have a properly scheduled pre-season. Those in the CWC might not be afforded enough time for vacationing, which begs the question of how prepared they might be for the new season on the physical and mental side of things.

The CWC may end up filling the financial coffers of these top-rated clubs, but that may come at a huge cost in the context of the season ahead. With the upcoming campaign being in a World Cup year, teams like Spain or England cannot afford to have their key stars like Rodri or Cole Palmer overworked, as these players are now expected to play non-stop between now and the start of the 2026-27 season.

The latter part might be true to a certain degree, and even if some might argue that those players might get a brief period of rest, it may not be enough. If players like Rodri manage to come through this CWC and next year’s World Cup unscathed, he will have played in summer tournaments for three years in a row, and that extends to many other players around other teams.

Is this sustainable for the longer term or even for the immediate future? Will this bring about frequent injuries to overworked players? Is this how FIFA responds to many complaints about player welfare? Is player welfare even part of FIFA’s thinking anymore?

Conclusion: CWC is a pointless tournament

Apart from the financial incentive that will ensure clubs are competitive in this tournament, they will lose more than they gain with the Club World Cup. Serious injuries are already a common occurrence among top clubs, especially for players who play plenty of minutes for their respective sides.

With the CWC likely to hamper the usual schedule of clubs, there is a chance that many top stars are literally about to play continuously between the start of the 2024/25 and the end of the 2026/27 seasons given the World Cup will come about next summer.

Without the proper rest and recuperation period, players are bound to have mental fatigue as well as on the physical side. Will this lead to serious injuries becoming more frequent in the upcoming 2025/26 season remains the question, but there might be enough conviction to think that is the case ahead.

Hence, the CWC might be a shiny new toy for FIFA to play with, but it will bring about some serious consequences for top clubs in their quest to stay competitive in their regular tournaments ahead of the 2025-26 season. Overall, this summer grandeur seems pretty much useless and does more harm to the conversation of player welfare.