The internet will break if Lionel Messi lifts the 2026 World Cup trophy with United States President Donald Trump crashing the celebration.
On Sunday, the image of Todd Boehly, Gianni Infantino and Trump taking over the Club World Cup was simply a sign of the times.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and USA President Donald Trump shared the trophy
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino and USA President Donald Trump shared the trophyCredit: Getty
Big money rules all in the American sports world, and that's been a fact for decades.
In the USA, it makes perfect sense for an NFL team to leave a small-market city and fanbase behind, just so a new $5.5 billion stadium can be built in Los Angeles.
Big money increasingly governs international football, which just featured a $1 billion Club World Cup that wasn't necessary, and will leave world champion Chelsea barely a month to prepare for the upcoming 2025-26 Premier League season.
"I am excited about what we are creating at this football club," Blues manager Enzo Maresca said on DAZN.
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"But I am more excited about the fact that we have three weeks off."
Hate or make fun of the Club World Cup all you want, but it's obviously the new normal, and football (better known as soccer in the USA) is only going forward.
The Club World Cup wasn't just a soft trial run for a historic 2026 World Cup, which will be bigger than ever and feature 48 teams playing across three countries.
Infantino's precious Club World Cup was a public acknowledgement of exactly what football prizes at this moment in history - new money over fading tradition, and an absurdly packed calendar over player health.
It's no coincidence that Chelsea co-owner Boehly spent years being criticized for his club's wild spending and over-inflated squad, then watched the Blues lift a splashy Club World Cup trophy with one of the deepest teams in the sport.
Chelsea needed all those extra strikers, wingers and goalkeepers just to finish fourth in the 2024-25 Premier League table, win the third-tier UEFA Conference League, qualify for the upcoming Champions League campaign, and humble reigning Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the sweltering summer heat in New Jersey.
Chelsea invested heavily in its Club World Cup trophy
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Chelsea invested heavily in its Club World Cup trophyCredit: Getty
Cole Palmer is a growing name in the US and UK
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Cole Palmer is a growing name in the US and UKCredit: Getty
MetLife Stadium was packed for Sunday's final
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MetLife Stadium was packed for Sunday's finalCredit: Getty
With so much money at stake, rest could wait.
"The Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard," former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told German outlet Welt.
"People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business are coming up with ideas.
"I understand those who say: But there are insane sums of money for participation. But that's not for every club. Last year it was the Copa and the Euro, this year the Club World Cup, and next year the World Cup.
"That means no real recovery for the players involved, neither physically nor mentally."
Klopp spoke the truth, but he was also missed the ultimate point.
WATCH Cole Palmer drop swear word live on TV after Club World Cup glory
Even with a half-baked halftime show, awkward post-match pauses, and Trump appearing to think that he was Chelsea's latest blockbuster signing, a forced tournament that started out as a farce ended with a buzzing crowd of 81,118 packing a state-of-the-art NFL stadium.
“I knew he (Trump) was going to be here, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy,” said Chelsea's Cole Palmer, who was born in Manchester and is now a rising name in the United States thanks to the reach of the Club World Cup.
“I’ve seen the billboards in Times Square and outside of Madison Square Garden,” Palmer said.
“It’s a nice feeling to be obviously alongside them type of players.”
The Club World Cup final was high entertainment, and reached new audiences that will eagerly return in a year when the real World Cup takes over the USA, Canada and Mexico.
There were on-field fights and post-match drama.
Chelsea, valued at $3.25 billion by Forbes, pocketed an extra $150 million and a fancy new trophy.
And while Trump clearly loved being in the middle of the Club World Cup final celebration, Infantino watched his heavily criticized experiment take over social media and make the Wimbledon men's singles final forgettable.
"Gianni is a friend of mine," Trump said on DAZN.
"He's done such a great job with the league and with soccer -- or as they would call it 'football.' "
The Club World Cup was still driving international sports news the morning after it finished, and a bigger-than-ever 2026 World Cup is only a year away.
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That's a dream scenario for Infantino and FIFA as the big money keeps rolling in.
Even if you still don't like the Club World Cup.