Jürgen Klopp slams FIFA's new Club World Cup, calling it "the worst idea ever" and warning of injury risks due to fixture congestion and a packed football calendar.
Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has delivered scathing criticism of FIFA’s new Club World Cup, currently underway in the United States with 32 teams. In an interview with the German newspaper Welt, Klopp described the competition as “the worst idea ever implemented in football” and expressed serious concerns about the impact of fixture congestion on players.
Klopp won the tournament in 2019 with Liverpool under the old format and did not hide his relief at seeing the Reds miss out on this year’s edition. In his view, the football calendar is becoming unsustainable, especially for elite players.
What are Klopp’s criticisms of the Club World Cup?
Klopp warned that players are being deprived of both physical and mental rest, pointing to an unbroken run of major tournaments: the World Cup, the Euros, the new Club World Cup, and another World Cup just around the corner. "The Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in this sense. People who have never had anything to do with the day-to-day life of clubs are making decisions. I understand that there are insane values involved, but this is not for all teams."
The German stressed that players need holidays more than ever. Unlike other tournaments in America, for example, this is not happening — and more competitions seem to be heading in the opposite direction, he added.
Jürgen Klopp pictured in April 2025
"An NBA player, who also earns a lot of money, has four months of vacation a year. Van Dijk didn't have that in his entire career. These tournaments cannot exist at the expense of athletes. I don't wish that on anyone, but I have a serious fear."
This year’s Club World Cup began just two weeks after the Champions League final and runs until 13 July. As a result, clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea, who are competing in the tournament, will have only five weeks before kicking off the 2025-26 Premier League season, which begins on 16 August.
However, those five weeks do not represent complete rest, as pre-season preparations are still required. Klopp, who stepped down as Liverpool manager after nearly nine seasons, fears an unprecedented wave of injuries. "Perhaps not everyone has yet realized the real problem. But next season we will see players with injuries they have never had before. If not now, it will be in the next World Cup. We're pushing too hard."
Klopp warns of damage to football’s quality
The coach also highlighted the potential impact of physical demands on the quality of football itself: “We demand that they play as if it is the last match, more than 70 times a year. This cannot continue. If they do not get breaks, they cannot maintain their performance – and when that happens, the product itself loses value.”
Klopp now works as global sporting director for Red Bull, overseeing the company’s clubs. Only one of them, RB Salzburg, took part in the FIFA tournament, but they were eliminated in the group stage following a 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid. "I had a two-and-a-half-week pre-season with all my players available. And after that, we play practically every three days for a year. This is brutal."
This article was originally published on Trivela.
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