FIFA relief at huge crowds

Al Ahly fans hold up a sign that says Lionel Messi may be the GOAT, but Egyptian midfielder Hussein El Shahat “is the love”. REUTERS

The expanded Club World Cup has kicked off with healthy crowds, “Messi mania” and a festival atmosphere in Miami, giving an early vindication to world soccer body FIFA after fears of empty stands and global disinterest.

FIFA controversially awarded Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami a back-door route into the tournament, ensuring the sport’s biggest name would be there after he helped propel soccer to new heights in a country often ambivalent to the world’s most popular game.

Some 61,000 fans packed the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday to watch the Argentine and his teammates battle out a goalless, but nonetheless thrilling draw with Egyptian giant Al Ahly.

There was another strong turnout on Sunday for the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid, which ended in a one-sided 4-0 win for the Champions League winner.

However, Bayern Munich’s 10-0 demolition of semi-professional Auckland City underscored the worrying gulf in quality between some of the competing clubs.

But, the opening weekend largely delivered what FIFA had been hoping for: vibrant crowds and global representation.

Messi takes a corner kick for Inter Miami, as fans in the stands take pictures during a match against Al Ahly on Saturday. REUTERS

South American supporters, especially, made their presence felt.

More than 1,000 Boca Juniors fans, bedecked in blue and gold, turned Miami Beach into a huge party on Sunday ahead of its opening match, singing club anthems and waving flags in scenes reminiscent of a World Cup carnival.

“Wherever you go, Boca is here,” Gaston San Paul, a fan who flew in from Entre Rios in Argentina, told reporters.

“Wherever we are, we do this,” he added, referring to the “Banderazo” (flag party), a fan gathering designed to mark territory ahead of a game.

Boca and Real Madrid games were among the early top-selling tickets, according to FIFA, which said that top markets after the United States were Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.

Talk of empty stands was, at least provisionally, dismissed, as well as heightened anxiety in the immigrant-heavy Miami area following recent federal immigration raids.

At the heart of the opening weekend buzz was Messi, whose presence has elevated Inter Miami’s profile and guaranteed some global interest in the tournament.

Ten-year-old Bernardo Gasca holds a Messi jersey before entering Hard Rock Stadium for a Club World Cup match on Saturday. AP

$1 billion deal

Messi, who received a standing ovation before kickoff, was unable to find the net against Al Ahly, but provided flashes of brilliance in a tightly contested, physical match.

FIFA is banking not only on Messi’s star power, but also on a radical new broadcast strategy. The tournament is being streamed for free worldwide by DAZN in a $1 billion deal.

That agreement followed Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports Investment, a subsidiary of the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), acquiring a minority stake in DAZN for a reported $1 billion — another marker of the Kingdom’s growing investment footprint in sport.

The partnership, one of the largest broadcast packages in soccer history, is central to FIFA’s push to maximize digital engagement and position the Club World Cup as a global spectacle ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

The $1 billion prize money, which ensures a hefty $125 million for the winners, was an obvious incentive for the European clubs.

“There’s a lot of money at stake. If you have the chance to earn a lot of money at a tournament, you should take it,” former Bayern legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.

DAZN has yet to provide viewership data.

While the crowds gave FIFA reason to be cheerful, the Bayern Munich match against Auckland City raised awkward questions about the tournament’s balance, as the German champion obliterated its opponent 10-0.

Despite the lopsided contest in Cincinnati, the overall mood among organizers was one of optimism, calling the opening weekend a resounding success.

Many Floridians, however, did not know a global soccer event was taking place in their state.

“There is a World Cup? Hockey?” Asked one Miami Beach restaurant worker.

“This tournament is new, and it is different. It is the very first time clubs and players from all over the world have had the chance to face each other in competitive matches on a global stage,” FIFA said, referring to the tournament’s new 32-team format.

With group matches continuing through the week, and Boca’s opener against Benfica drawing another bumper crowd in Miami on Monday, FIFA will be hoping to build on the early momentum — and avoid more overly one-sided encounters like the one in Cincinnati.

Benfica overcame a two-goal deficit through an Angel Di Maria penalty in first-half stoppage time and Nicolas Otamendi’s 84th-minute goal, to claim a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors in a heated match that included three red cards, four yellows and 22 fouls.

Boca Juniors fans turn Hard Rock Stadium in Miami into a Bombonera by the beach for a Club World Cup match against Benfica on Monday. AP

Partisan support

Heavily armed police were present at checkpoints to ensure order among a Boca supporters’ group that is renowned for being extremely fierce and passionate. But, most of the rough and tumble was on the field, not in the stands, as the game included red cards for Boca’s Andres Herrera in the 44th, Benfica’s Andrea Belotti in the 72nd and Boca’s Nicolas Figal in the 88th.

Boca Juniors played in front of a largely partisan crowd, with the Argentine club’s supporters making up most of the 55,574 attendees at Hard Rock Stadium.

Both teams finished a man short, and one Boca player was ejected after he was substituted from the match.

The Argentine club had led 2-0 thanks to goals from Miguel Merentiel and Rodrigo Battaglia, and looked set for a night of celebration.

Boca fans had taken over Miami Beach over the weekend, thousands of them gathering on the seafront, drinking and waving flags for hours in the searing heat.

A video of Boca fans jumping and chanting in a local Walmart supermarket, to the bemusement of regular shoppers, had captured the mood, but it was nothing compared to the atmosphere inside Hard Rock Stadium.

The home of the Miami Dolphins was turned into a Bombonera by the beach, with 90 percent of the crowd decked out in blue and yellow and bringing a level of constant noise rarely, if ever, heard for NFL games here.

When the action got underway, it was clear that the enthusiasm from the stands was going to be matched on the field, with Boca confirming the feeling that South American clubs in this tournament are out to prove a point against their European opponents.

Agencies