The lines are drawn. The stage is set. After a month of scintillating action, the final game of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is finally upon us. With PSG as the opposition on Sunday, Chelsea knows they have a steep climb ahead. But the Blues aren’t alien to playing at the highest level of the sport either. “They are one of the hottest teams in the world at the moment but this is the final, a one-off game,” reminded Reece James, captain of the British squad. And tonight, the London-based club will have a special soccer fan to showcase their skill to.

After a whole month of captivating action, the Club World Cup will culminate tonight at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Throughout the entirety of the tournament, attendance has been a major headache for the hosts. Apart from the match between PSG and Atletico Madrid, which drew 80,619 fans to the stands, the rest of the competition didn’t exactly meet the attendance expectations. However, the arrival of one person could very well compensate for all that.

A post by Rapid Response 47 on X from July 13 shared the guest of honor for tonight’s Club World Cup Final. “President Donald J. Trump and the First Lady touch down in Teterboro, New Jersey, en route to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium,” reads the caption of the social media post, while the accompanying video clip shows the POTUS and the First Lady making their way off Marine One and into a limo to reach the NJ venue.

What makes Trump’s attendance so special is that he didn’t bother to show up at any of the MLS teams’ matches at the Club World Cup. The opening match of the competition, between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Egypt’s Al Ahly, was watched by 60,927 fans at the Hard Rock Stadium. However, Trump wasn’t among those who showed up. Naturally, with his presence, the final match just got even more exciting than it already was.

But it wasn’t like Trump had to work hard to fit in the Club World Cup final in his busy schedule. He traveled to New Jersey from his golf club in Bedminster, which is just 40 miles away from the East Rutherford stadium. The Trumps arrived at the MetLife Stadium just before the pre-game musical performances by Robbie Williams and Laura Pausini. Loud cheers from the crowd greeted the POTUS as he waved to the soccer fans at the stadium, which is otherwise called home by the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

Trump’s visit will also likely give him a taste of what the sport brings to the table at the highest level: The passion, the fanaticism, and the overall ambiance. The USA, along with Canada and Mexico, will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and Trump reportedly has intentions of visiting several matches at next year’s tournament. However, that will also give him some time to ponder why the Club World Cup failed to attract more fans than it did and possibly come up with a solution, in close collaboration with the stakeholders, to change that next year.

The Club World Cup fails to instill excitement

FIFA had big hopes for the Club World Cup. Gianni Infantino, president of the international soccer governing body, even noted that the “World Cup” branding would entice more fans to watch the matches firsthand. And yet, despite all that, the ongoing tournament didn’t live up to the expectations. The round-robin portion of the competition averaged about 35,000 attendees, which is more or less 12,000 more than the average number of fans who turned up at the stands over the 2024-25 MLS season. But that hardly reflects the entire story.

When the FIFA World Cup was hosted by the US in 1994, 68,991 fans on average were recorded at the group stage. Quite the downfall from the tournament that took place over three decades ago. The 2022 Qatar World Cup also averaged over 50,000 fans, making the 2025 Club World Cup even paler in comparison. To tackle the hiccup, Chelsea players even stepped forward to share links to the Club World Cup tickets via their social media handles.

The MetLife Stadium can seat over 82,000 fans, and it reportedly saw the attendance of 81,188. However, Chelsea seemed entirely unbothered by the numbers and kept their eyes on the goal. At the time of writing, the British heavyweights hold a steady 3-0 lead over the 2025 Champions League winners.

Do you believe the stellar show that was the Club World Cup will help to make the 2026 FIFA World Cup a better success story? Tell us your thoughts in a comment!