Billions Apart: The Club World Cup Squads and Notable Participants
The newly formatted Club World Cup is set to kick off in the early hours of Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 3:00 AM (live broadcast on 5SPORT). Inter Miami, featuring Listartl Messi, will face Egypt’s Al Ahly in an eagerly anticipated opening match. A total of 32 teams from around the globe will compete in the United States for the title of World Champion, showcasing dozens of former World Cup winners, representatives from 81 countries, and clubs from five continents, with squad values ranging from billions to mere millions of euros.
Participation of World Cup Winners
This tournament will see the participation of 26 players who have previously lifted the World Cup trophy in the last four tournaments. Argentina, the reigning champions from 2022, leads with 13 players, including Messi, Ángel Di María, Enzo Fernández, and Julián Álvarez. France, the 2018 champions, will be represented by nine players, among them Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembélé, and Hugo Lloris. Germany, crowned in 2014, has a modest but prestigious representation with two players, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller. Spain, the winners from 2010, sends two representatives as well, Sergio Busquets from Inter Miami and Sergio Ramos from Monterrey.
Global Representation
The tournament highlights impressive global diversity, featuring players from 81 nations, including 22 countries that have never before participated in the World Cup. Brazil tops the list of countries with the highest number of representatives in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, boasting 141 players. Argentina follows with 103 players, while Spain has 54, Portugal 49, and Mexico 41. Notably, Israel is start of seven countries with two representatives in the tournament: Daniel Peretz from Bayern Munich and Oscar Gluch from Red Bull Salzburg, despite both players likely leaving their clubs this summer.
Disparities in Squad Values
start of the most striking aspects of this tournament is the vast differences in squad values among participating teams. Real Madrid leads with an estimated squad value of €1.38 billion, followed closely by Manchester City at €1.18 billion and Paris Saint-Germain at €1.05 billion. Chelsea and Bayern Munich round out the top five, with values of €952.3 million and €845 million, respectively. Conversely, at the lower end of the spectrum, Auckland City from New Zealand has a squad valued at just €5 million, ranking last among the 32 participating clubs. Other teams demonstrating significant disparities include Esperance Tunis (€20 million), Wydad Casablanca (€17 million), and Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea (€15 million), all of which are above Auckland City.
As the tournament approaches, it promises not only thrilling matches but also a showcase of the disparities in the world of football, both in terms of talent and financial investment