Biggest teams, contesting on the biggest stage, producing goals galore like never before—to sum it up, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup isn’t disappointing on the pitch at all, with each matchday turning out to be quite a thriller. But? There’s always a “but,” isn’t there? Well, yes—the attendances have surprisingly been quite underwhelming, with each venue in America drawing a mixed reception. Yet, this is something that doesn’t disappoint Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer!

The Orlando city chief views these fluctuations in attendance from a positive outlook. He believes that it underscores the ability of the United States to host such a prestigious tournament that concerns global football. “The tournament has been a great opportunity to showcase our venues,” Dyer told reporters, as compiled by the Orlando Sentinel.

“I think it’s another great example that we can host anything the world can bring us,” he added, expressing his pride in the fact that the U.S. is primarily warming up their soccer-centric crowd. After the Club World Cup, the States has a joint responsibility to host the 2026 World Cup, alongside Canada and Mexico.

Surprisingly, a report from the Associated Press stated that the initial 48 matches of the Club World Cup that were played across 11 U.S. cities witnessed over 1 million empty seats, with overall attendance filling only about 57% of stadium capacity. Orlando’s 25,000-seater Inter&Co Stadium, also the home of MLS’ Orlando City and even NWSL’s Orlando Pride, hosted two CWC games, which garnered just 3,412 and 6,730 fans.

Then again, Mayor Buddy Dyer did highlight the incredible attendance at Camping World Stadium, where a clash between Los Angeles FC and Brazil’s Flamengo attracted around 33,000 spectators. However, the match between Manchester City and Juventus drew over 54,000.

In fact, hosting Pep Guardiola and Co. turned out to be quite favorable for Orlando. Their round of 16 clash against Al Hilal—despite ending in a 4-3 defeat—drew 42,311 fans to Camping World Stadium, something that makes Mayor Buddy Dyer quite ecstatic to reflect on. “Having Manchester City for two consecutive games, I think, is helpful for our crowds,” he concluded.

Talk about when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Even after such uncertainties in the attendance, here we have Mr. Mayer, basking in the happiness of seeing a revered club like Manchester City luring such big numbers to his city’s stadiums. While it’s good to witness such optimism, there still remains concern for FIFA!

Club World Cup is even failing in front of NWSL!

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had confidently declared, “Millions of people will be coming,” while standing alongside U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, fueling excitement for the 2025 Club World Cup. In fact, words like “a big bang” and “the most coveted competition in club football” were used to increase the hype. However, the current reality has proved to be nothing but a slap on the face.

Consider a Group D match 1 clash between Chelsea and Los Angeles FC. Held at Atlanta’s 71,000-seater Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a little over 22,137 turned up to watch the game. In fact, viral images showcased the entire top-tier section closed, while the rest of the stands were empty. Even Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was also surprised by the atmosphere. “I think the environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full,” he said in the post-game talk.

What’s most striking is that just two years ago, Chelsea faced off against fellow Premier League side Newcastle at this very stadium during the Summer Series. That game alone sold out, drawing nearly 70,000 fans. In fact, as the home ground of Atlanta United, Mercedes-Benz Stadium typically averages 44,037 spectators per game.

To add more perspective, the current NWSL average attendance sits at over 11,000 fans per match. In fact, it has witnessed a massive surge since then. Yet, there’s the Club World Cup, which has drastically failed.