Jurgen Klopp has hit out on the newly expanded Club World Cup, calling it the “worst concept ever carried out in soccer.”
The former Liverpool supervisor, who received the match with the membership in 2019 underneath its outdated format, believes the up to date model locations an pointless burden on top-level gamers.
That triumph, Liverpool’s first within the competitors, got here when the match was a smaller occasion. Now, the brand new 32-team model started simply two weeks after the Champions League closing and has already reached the last-16 stage.
Liverpool should not collaborating this time, in contrast to Chelsea and Manchester City, and Klopp admits he’s relieved.
Speaking to German outlet Welt, he mentioned: “The Club World Cup is the worst concept ever carried out in soccer on this regard. People who’ve by no means had something to do with day-to-day enterprise are developing with concepts.
“I perceive those that say: But there are insane sums of cash for participation. But that’s not for each membership. Last yr it was the Copa and the Euro, this yr the Club World Cup, and subsequent yr the World Cup.
“That means no actual restoration for the gamers concerned, neither bodily nor mentally. Of course, all of them earn some huge cash. But let’s depart that apart for a second.”
🗣️ Klopp: “Club World Cup is the worst concept ever carried out in soccer. People who’ve by no means had something to do with day-to-day enterprise are developing with concepts.
I worry that subsequent season gamers will undergo accidents they’ve by no means had earlier than. If not, then it will occur on the… pic.twitter.com/vF2eV8Nyky
— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) June 28, 2025
Klopp pointed to the cumulative toll on gamers’ well being, utilizing Virgil van Dijk for instance.
“A participant within the NBA who additionally earns some huge cash has 4 months off yearly. Virgil van Dijk hasn’t even had that in his total profession. Tournaments just like the Club World Cup can’t be performed on the backs of the gamers. I don’t want it on anybody, however I’ve a severe worry.”
The match will run via to July 13, which means golf equipment like City and Chelsea may have solely 5 weeks earlier than the beginning of the Premier League season on August 16.
Klopp believes this congested schedule will trigger vital points, warning: “Perhaps not everybody has acknowledged the true drawback but, that subsequent season gamers will undergo accidents they’ve by no means had earlier than. If not this season, then it’ll occur on the World Cup or afterward.
“We continuously inform them to enter each recreation as if it have been their final. We inform them that 70 or 75 instances a yr. But it may possibly’t go on like this.”
He added that the standard of the sport itself may decline if nothing modifications.
“We have to ensure they’ve breaks, as a result of in the event that they don’t get them, they received’t be capable to ship high performances in the long term, and if they will’t do this anymore, your complete product loses worth for the sellers,” he mentioned.
Since leaving Liverpool final summer season after almost a decade in cost, Klopp has taken on a brand new function as Red Bull’s international sporting director, the place he oversees their community of soccer golf equipment.
