As crazy as it may sound, the center of the soccer universe right now is the United States of America. In the space of a year, the U.S. is playing host to two of the biggest international tournaments on the planet: The 2026 World Cup and the 2025 Club World Cup. This should be America's proudest moment as a burgeoning soccer nation. It's looking like it may be more of a sad tuba.
There are concerns about attendance, with ticket prices for the opener between MLS's Inter Miami and Egypt's Al-Ahly needing to be slashed. Current events in the U.S. already threatened to overshadow the tournament, even without ICE and Customs and Border Patrol personnel providing security at Hard Rock Stadium. And those are just the off-the-field issues.
On the field, there are major worries as well. Those are coming from the men who will be putting their bodies on the line. It's never good press for a major tournament to have star players openly questioning the wisdom of holding it at all.
Real Madrid's Killian Mbappe and Manchester City's Rodri have already spoken out about the burden this tournament and others are putting on players.
Mbappe and Rodri push back against playing too many games
"We play like already, 60 games in the year... you have so many competitions. And we are happy to play, but when it's too much, it's too much," Mbappe said, via Sky Sports. "I think we have to respect the health of the players."
Last September, Rodri even supported the idea of a strike as players push back against too many games.
"I think we are close to that," Rodri said. "If you ask any player, they will say the same. It’s the general opinion of the players. If it keeps [going] this way, there will be a moment where we have no other option, but let's see. It’s something that worries us because we are the ones who suffer."
Suffering comes in the form of breaking down. More games equals more fatigue and more chances to succumb to injury.
Rodri's fate should have Mbappe worried
Rodri himself missed most of the 2024-25 season with a knee injury. He played 63 games for club and country in 2023-24. The year before he played 68. So from 2022 to 2024, he participated in two league campaigns, two deep Champions League runs, the 2022 World Cup in the winter, the 2023 UEFA Nations League in the summer, and the 2024 Euros in the summer.
Is it any wonder he eventually broke down? He never really had the chance to let his body recover from a grueling scheduled that continued year after year. That'll be a concern for Mbappe too.
This season, Mbappe played 56 games across all competitions for Real Madrid. He played more than 45 minutes in 11 games for France. That's 67 games. He'll play at least three more in the Club World Cup, if not seven, should Real make to it to the Final. When all is said and done, he may have played 74 games in the span of a year.
The La Liga schedule kicks off on Aug. 17. Preseason training usually begins in July, leaving Mbappe precious little time to rest before another campaign begins. And if all goes well, he'll play another 50 or so games with Real during his club season, then spend the better part of Summer 2026 playing in the World Cup.
Would anyone blame Mbappe if he were tempted to take it easy at the Club World Cup?
The Club World Cup could become glorified pre-season friendlies
Mbappe is 26 years old and has appeared almost 100 more matches than Messi did by that age. And he's certainly not the only one who should seriously consider protecting themselves during the Club World Cup.
FIFPRO shows close to 30 players on Club World Cup rosters have appeared in 50 or more matches this season. That list includes Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde and Enzo Fernandez.
The first major injury at the Club World Cup could spell its doom. This tournament doesn't carry the prestige of other more established competitions. No one remembers or cares who won last year or the year before. The World Cup next year is far more important. And major stars have already hinted at the biggest reason they shouldn't go all out.
America's biggest moment is off to a rough start. It won't get better unless the biggest stars in the sport buy in.