“Millions of people will be coming,” boldly remarked FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the White House, standing next to U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, hyping up expectations for the 2025 Club World Cup. In fact, phrases like “a big bang” and “the most coveted competition” in global domestic football were used to describe this fresh edition of the tournament ahead of its launch in the States. But the honest current reality, you ask? Well, let’s just say—even an average NWSL game might draw a better crowd.

And this is the men’s game we’re talking about—the very distinction that has mostly called it superior, at least in contrast to its opposite. Truth be told, the attendance situation has gone from bad to worse for the FIFA Club World Cup. What they anticipated it to be is far from the reality that currently exists, and even makes them a target of backlash.

The latest predicament unfolded from Monday afternoon’s Group D Matchday 1 clash between Chelsea and Los Angeles FC. Ask any ardent fan, this is a game that one witnesses during the pre-season, but believe this is the actual men’s Club World Cup stage we are talking about. Now, hearing that a Premier League side is locking horns against one of MLS’ successful teams is an affair that one would at least think of watching, right?

However, that was hardly the case from the looks of the attendance at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. If you look at the images, of course, the stadium felt almost empty. Speaking of the numbers, guess how many must have filled the 71,000-seater venue? Keep the drum rolling…just around 22,137 to be precise, with the entire top tier section closed.

On the brighter side for the visitors, Chelsea won 2-0, courtesy of goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. However, manager Enzo Maresca would have been much more ecstatic if there had been fans to cheer on their triumph. “I think the environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full,” said the Italian tactician, as compiled by BBC.

The most surprising factor is that around two years ago, Chelsea played a friendly clash against domestic rivals Newcastle during the Premier League Summer Series at the very same venue. And surprisingly, that match alone was a complete sell-out, with close to 70,000 spectators. Heck, being the home stadium of Atlanta United, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium draws an average crowd of 44,037 per match.

Moreover, it is also one of US Soccer’s first choices to host their men’s and women’s national team games. Not to mention that it will be used as one of the venues for next year’s men’s World Cup that the US will jointly host with Canada and Mexico. Then again, this is just one example as several other matches have also struggled with attendance.

Then again, the question looms, what exactly is the CWC doing wrong that they are not able to procure similar attendance? And to their misery, the Infantino and Co. are not only facing intense backlash from the soccer world, but even the women’s side stepped in to sprinkle some salt on their wounds.

NWSL community takes sly dig at FIFA over Club World Cup shame

The conclusion of Chelsea vs LAFC with such a low presence of fans in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium only saw the National Women’s Soccer League supporters take a subtle dig at the Gianni Infantino-led organization. Well, the most common taunt they could make was, “NWSL has better attendance than this,” which in some way is true. For context, the current NWSL attendance exceeds 11,000 fans per match.

Then again, many would counter-attack the American women’s domestic community by complaining about the poor scheduling from FIFA. Well, think for a moment, why would the organizers even consider arranging a game at 3 pm local time on a working Monday? Did FIFA forget that people have jobs, besides just watching and enjoying the game?

Yet, one fan gave an open challenge to the men’s game that any NWSL game on the same schedule would have outdone this attendance: “NWSL game at the same ground and same time, would have gotten more crowd than this lol.”

One might give men’s game supporters the benefit of the doubt—assuming they do care about the newly launched tournament—and instead blame the scheduling. Speaking of which, a similar story is expected in the upcoming group-stage games. Specifically, two to three matches are scheduled during regular work hours on alternate weekdays this week and next, leading up to the end of the group stage on Thursday, June 26, with kickoff times at noon, 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. local time.

But boy, do women’s game supporters eat a bowl full of confidence for breakfast—as one fan boldly claimed that even a typical showdown between an NWSL and a WSL side would draw a bigger crowd, no matter the timing: “Angel City vs Chelsea WFC match would had a packed stadium even on a Monday afternoon.”

Other than scheduling, another reason why this tournament seems flop is due to ticket prices. To share one instance, a report from The Athletic stated that just two weeks before the tournament’s kickoff, the opening game featuring Lionel Messi-led and David Beckham-backed Inter Miami and Egypt’s Al-Ahly struggled to sell tickets, with tens of thousands of tickets remaining unsold.

To tackle the problem, Infantino and Co. were compelled to launch a discount offer for students at Miami Dade College—home to over 100,000 students—allowing them to purchase tickets for just $20 and receive up to four additional tickets for free. That eventually worked, with fans enjoying Messi for just a price of $4—a staggering contrast to the original lowest ticket price of $349 when the draw was announced in December.

No wonder that forced FIFA to quietly issue partial refunds to fans who paid higher prices through club allocations when tickets had initially gone on sale. Simultaneously, it has even compelled the apex authority of the beautiful game to conduct last-minute ticket giveaways to avoid visibly empty stadiums.

Even in the Chelsea vs LAFC game, the lowest-priced ticket just before kickoff was around £37, even though they were much more expensive when announced. That explains why even after the game had begun, tickets remained available online for as little as £26, with plenty of seats still open across nearly every section—something which this fan subtly assured: “Ticket prices were insane until right before kick-off”

Then again, if FIFA believes that lowering prices would solve the issue, then they are in huge trouble. Clearly, the demand is weak in a place where soccer often garners mixed viewership, even though doing so has indeed pushed sales up over the last fortnight. Who knows? It must have been the Lionel Messi effect at Inter Miami that must have fueled Gianni Infantino to organize this event in the States.

After all, before any game that La Pulga is confirmed/not confirmed to start, the Herons have been reaping the rewards by selling their tickets at huge prices that people are ready to pay. Yet clearly, the same hasn’t been the case in the Club World Cup, as they struggled to fill the venue despite Messi playing.

Another reason for conducting this tournament in the States is to warm up the American viewers for next year’s World Cup. However, instead of doing good, FIFA has ended up igniting a potential fear of how things would unfold for next year’s international event. And the current CWC scenario has made it worse, according to this netizen: “This is so sad. How do we have the World Cup next year and possibly have a similar issue?!”

This was just a glimpse of what you saw as hundreds of NWSL supporters came to question the true nature of the Club World Cup. Regardless, there remains hope within FIFA that things will improve for them as the tournament moves forward, particularly as major European clubs with loyal fan bases progress to the later stages. But that is something that only time will tell.