The aftermath of the Club World Cup: success at a heavy cost | OneFootball

In Spain, the expression “FIFA Virus” is often used to criticise the problems big clubs face with international call-ups: long trips, fatigue and injuries that can end up derailing a season.

The new World Club Cup may have gone down well with the general public, but it has also met resistance and created fresh challenges, mainly because of an already overcrowded calendar.

As 2025 draws to a close, the impact is becoming clearer. And the conclusion is hard to avoid: Bayern Munich stands out as an exception among the clubs that went deep in the tournament. Most of the others are clearly showing signs of wear and tear and have delivered seasons well below expectations.

With the World Club Cup squeezed into the calendar, along with a shortened pre-season and reduced holidays, European clubs are feeling the strain in 2025/26. Brazilian sides, meanwhile, are dealing with an even more bloated fixture list, worsening what has long been a chronic issue.

Chelsea and PSG - shattered finalists

For the Blues, the World Club Cup was a landmark moment. The club has invested heavily in young talent and saw the new tournament as a chance to reassert itself among the world’s elite. That ambition was boosted by a mid-tournament signing who proved decisive in the latter stages: Brazilian João Pedro. But five months on from lifting the trophy, the outlook for the inaugural champions is far from reassuring.

Enzo Maresca is under fire, with some even calling for his dismissal. Chelsea sit fifth in a fiercely competitive Premier League, 13 points behind leaders Arsenal and, more alarmingly, 10 points adrift of Aston Villa, a club operating with far fewer resources.

Injuries have been a constant problem and go some way towards explaining the underwhelming campaign. Cole Palmer, one of Chelsea’s key players, has featured in just nine matches since the World Cup. João Pedro, another standout from the tournament, spent much of the season playing through pain and saw his form drop sharply. Frequent rotation and some questionable decisions have prevented the manager from finding any real consistency in 2025/26.

The European champions, World Cup runners-up and Intercontinental champions, PSG, appear to be feeling the effects even more, despite facing limited domestic competition. Their struggles were clear in matches such as the one against Flamengo, with flat performances, notable absences like Achraf Hakimi, and Ousmane Dembélé - voted the world’s best player - left on the bench and well short of his best.

Even their dominance in France is under threat. After 16 games, Lens sit top of the table, a side without big names and nowhere near PSG financially.

Bayern, the quarter-final exception

Knocked out by PSG in the quarter-finals, Bayern are the outlier among the clubs that reached this stage. Their situation is not so different from their conquerors in terms of domestic control: their dominance at home remains unquestioned. In 2025/26, they are still unbeaten after 15 league matches, with just two draws.

Borussia Dortmund, Al Hilal and Palmeiras, the other quarter-finalists, have had far less to celebrate. Dortmund are not necessarily underperforming, but an early exit from the German Cup and another second-place finish in the Bundesliga leave little room for optimism. Al Hilal seem less affected overall, yet they only sit third in their domestic league, while Palmeiras endured defeats across all competitions in 2025.

Fluminense and Real Madrid reached the semi-finals and finished among the world’s top four, but neither managed to maintain that level afterwards. Fluminense ended the year having played a staggering 79 matches and, despite record revenues, only secured a Libertadores spot in the final round of the Brasileirão.

For Real Madrid, winning is usually the bare minimum, and they currently trail rivals Barcelona by four points. That gap has led many to question the work of Xabi Alonso. 

The World Club Cup will not return until 2029. Until then, clubs may learn to prepare better for yet another competition added to an already packed calendar. Perhaps better than they did in 2025 - a year whose consequences are likely to fuel further criticism of Fifa for piling on more matches in a game where success often comes at a very high cost.