The modern game has never been bigger. Whether it is better remains the question FIFA is daring the world to answer.
As global football closes a relentless year and accelerates toward a supersized 2026 World Cup, the sport’s governors are doubling down on expansion, convinced that the appetite for football is limitless – even as concerns over quality, fatigue and balance grow louder.
FIFA points to the past 12 months as proof of concept. Its expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States drew 2.4 million fans, culminating in an 81,000-strong crowd for the final as Chelsea swept aside Paris Saint-Germain. For FIFA, it was validation. For critics, it was also a warning.
The gulf between elite and aspirant was impossible to ignore. Auckland City were thrashed 10-0 by Bayern Munich and 6-0 by Benfica.
Al Ain suffered similar punishment. Such mismatches, once rare, are expected to multiply when a record 48 nations gather across the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.
The expanded World Cup will stretch to 104 matches – a marathon that promises spectacle but threatens exhaustion.
Player welfare has become a flashpoint, with FIFPro warning that injury rates and burnout are climbing amid an ever-crowded calendar that shows no sign of easing.
Yet history suggests that when the tournament reaches its sharp end, familiarity will prevail.
Once debutants and underdogs enjoy their moment – from Cape Verde to Curacao, Jordan to Uzbekistan – the business end is likely to belong to the usual powers: holders Argentina alongside France, Brazil, Spain, England and Germany.
For all the talk of new names and new nations, two figures still tower above the landscape.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – the defining players of the 21st century – have never faced each other at a World Cup.
That could finally change. If the bracket behaves, a Kansas City quarter-final could stage their long-awaited duel, with Messi at 39 and Ronaldo at 41.
Neither has shown any appetite for fading quietly.
Ronaldo continued to rattle in goals for Al-Nassr and led Portugal to the UEFA Nations League title. Messi, now in MLS, lifted the Cup with Inter Miami while sweeping the MVP award and Golden Boot.
With both icons operating far from Europe’s center of gravity, space has opened for a new standard-bearer.
No player seized that space more emphatically than Ousmane Dembele.
The Ballon d’Or and FIFA Player of the Year winner produced the season of his life, scoring 33 goals in 49 appearances as Paris Saint-Germain finally fulfilled their ambition – storming to a historic treble capped by a ruthless 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Dembele edged elite company for the game’s top honors.
Barcelona’s teenage phenomenon Lamine Yamal inspired a 28th La Liga title. Mohamed Salah delivered a staggering 47 goal involvements to drive Liverpool to the Premier League crown in Arne Slot’s dream debut season.
Harry Kane, Bundesliga top scorer again as Bayern reclaimed the title, finished a distant 13th – a reflection of how crowded the summit has become.
The women’s game continued its surge.
Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati claimed a third straight Ballon d’Or Feminin, though Euro 2025 ended in heartbreak as England edged Spain on penalties in the final. Record crowds followed throughout the tournament, prompting FIFA to confirm an expanded Women’s Club World Cup from 2027.
Change was not limited to the pitch. UEFA’s revamped 36-team Champions League silenced early skeptics, with 27 clubs still in contention heading into the final matchday. While the format added drama, it also favored financial heavyweights – none more so than PSG, who stumbled early before catching fire when it mattered most.
The Premier League’s financial muscle remained unrivaled. Six English clubs qualified for the 2025-26 Champions League, underlining domestic dominance fueled by a staggering 3 billion pounds ($4.05 billion) spent in a single summer window – more than the rest of Europe’s top leagues combined.
Technology, too, marched forward. FIFA introduced faster semi-automated offside decisions, and next year’s World Cup will be the most technologically advanced ever, featuring the AI-embedded Trionda match ball designed to assist officials in real time.
