Champions League exposes the absurdity of the United States soccer dream

Two of Europe’s sensations this season, Arsenal and Barcelona—both recent Champions League semi-finalists—won’t be taking part in the inaugural Club World Cup this summer. The tournament, intended to be a global showdown of the world’s best teams every four years, will kick off without them.

The reason lies in the tournament’s qualification system, which gives priority to performances in the years leading up to the most recent season. This opens the door for situations like this—where teams that rise to the European elite during a World Cup year end up missing out.

Two of Europe’s top teams miss out on FIFA millions

That’s exactly what’s happened to Arsenal and Barcelona, two giants of English and Spanish football, and their absence from the competition, organised under FIFA president Gianni Infantino, will be felt when the event runs from June 14 to July 13 in the USA.

Europe will send 12 teams to the Club World Cup. The winners of the last four Champions League editions are guaranteed a spot—but not the champion of the current season—and that’s where the controversy starts. Chelsea qualified by winning the 2021 edition, and Manchester City is in as the 2023 champion. But the 2025 winner, potentially another red-hot English side like Arsenal, won’t be included.

FIFA has also imposed a cap of two teams per country—unless more than two different clubs win the Champions League during the qualifying period. When the cap is reached, a special FIFA ranking based on results from the last four Champions Leagues comes into play. In that ranking, Atlético Madrid is ahead of Barcelona, meaning Barça misses out yet again. As a result, clubs like Salzburg have made the cut over both Barcelona and Arsenal—an outcome that feels outright absurd.

For those who doubted whether the Champions League group stage really reflected the competition’s true level, the semi-final lineup this year came as a wake-up call.

With the exception of Liverpool, who topped the group stage rankings, the rest of the top four teams have lived up to their billing: Barcelona finished 2nd, Arsenal 3rd, and Inter 4th—each now in the semi-finals. The only real surprise has been PSG, ranked 15th after the group stage, yet managing to eliminate top contenders like Liverpool to reach the penultimate round.

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