Has the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup been a huge success or a massive failure? Well, that would depend on who you speak to. Critics will point to miserable attendances at some games and lengthy thunderstorm breaks in others as a sign that the competition was a joke. Others would say that some competitive summer soccer is better than no summer soccer , and that their respective clubs have received a huge financial windfall just for simply showing up in the United States.
But while the jury is out on whether the tournament has been a success or not, for these three teams, there can be no denying that their part in the Club World Cup was an abject failure. Here’s who they are and why.
Bayern Munich
Heading into the Club World Cup, online gambling sites made German giants Bayern Munich one of the favorites to go all the way. Only Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Manchester City were ahead of them in the odds lists, and for a while, it looked as though the Bavarians would live up to the billing. While the latest odds from the popular Bovada online gambling site still make the reigning Meisterschale holders a mighty 1.29 betting favorite to win the Bundesliga again next season, unfortunately, their American summer was an absolute disaster.
Perhaps our verdict is somewhat harsh on Vincent Kompany’s side. Sure, they reached the quarterfinals, scoring a whopping 16 goals in just four games in the process. However, it was in that last-eight clash against Paris Saint-Germain where things unraveled disastrously. Not only did they lose 2-0 to a PSG side that had two players sent off, but they also had to endure a devastating injury to arguably their best player, Jamal Musiala.
Throughout the first half of that quarterfinal against the newly minted European Champions, Musiala attempted to get on the end of a ball into the box ahead of opposition goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. What happened next saw the German attacking midfielder’s ankle get stuck between the Italian shot-stopper’s body and arms before graphically twisting in an unnatural manner. The result was that Musiala suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle, an injury that will likely ensure he misses the entirety of the 2025/26 season.
So while performances on the pitch for Bayern were far from disastrous, the result of losing their key player for all of next season and perhaps beyond is far more damaging than anything else that could have happened. Whether Musiala is even the same player by the time he returns to action, only time will tell.
Manchester City
Much like the aforementioned Bayern, Manchester City headed across the Atlantic this summer with very real ambitions of leaving MetLife Stadium on July 13th as World Champions. However, unlike their German counterparts, they did so following a disastrous 2024/25 season in which they surrendered their four-year stranglehold on the English Premier League with a whimper.
Manager Pep Guardiola attempted to ring the changes, bringing in the likes of Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders in a bid to breathe new life into his side. What followed was more disappointment.
The Blues labored to a 2-0 victory in their opening game against Moroccan minnows Wydad, before bursting into life with a 5-0 thrashing of Al Ain and a 5-2 thumping against Juventus. All seemed well after the latter of those three group stage results. But unfortunately, a familiar heartache lay in wait.
City was a whopping favorite to win their Round of 16 clash against Saudi Arabian outfit Al Hilal, a team without its talismanic striker Aleksandr Mitrovic. But even without the prolific Serb up top, the 19-time Pro League champions still managed to net four times against a calamitous Blues defense. That saw them progress with a shocking 4-3 victory, ensuring Guardiola’s side left the Land of the Free as a laughingstock once again.
Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid’s tournament was unfortunately pretty much over as quickly as it began. Diego Simeone’s men headed to the States full of optimism, especially after taking their La Liga title challenge into the final few weeks of the campaign before ultimately falling by the wayside. Still, similar exploits in the States should have stood them in with a good chance of mounting a deep tournament run.
But for all the positivity surrounding the campaign, Atleti were thumped 4-0 in their opening game by Paris Saint-Germain. That wouldn’t immediately spell curtains, but when the French champions were shockingly beaten by Botafogo in their second game, Los Rojiblancos were suddenly on the brink.
Due to the tiebreaking procedure FIFA had put in place, Atletico needed to beat Botafogo by three clear goals in their final group game, otherwise they would be eliminated. They ultimately won 1-0, but that wasn’t enough, and the Spaniards were eliminated, despite winning two of the three games they played.