FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) has presented its second analysis of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, with its members praising the new tournament, held in the United States, for its “fantastic football” and “contrasting styles”. The group also highlighted the need for teams to adapt and said that the ground-breaking 32-team tournament had provided some useful lessons for the FIFA World Cup 26™ which the United States will co-host with Canada and Mexico. Roberto Martínez, who last month led Portugal to their second UEFA Nations League title, said it had been a “fascinating tournament” because of the different styles of play. “We’ve seen teams, the South American teams, when they lose the ball they’re happy to regain their position, they don’t want to win the ball back quick and high,” he said. “We’ve seen the European teams, Man City, especially Bayern München, PSG, Chelsea, they want to win the ball back quickly and go very strong and defend very high. It’s not about the style, it’s about being good at your style.”

Klinsmann, a FIFA World Cup winner with West Germany at Italy 1990 and former national team coach of Germany, the United States and Korea Republic, added: “I think the South American teams coming to this tournament here showed fantastic attitude, to prove a point that they're very, very good teams. And also the other teams, the Europeans - after I would say a little bit of hesitation in the beginning - they really showed up. They embraced this tournament and we saw fantastic football throughout.” FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger said the reaction from clubs had been overwhelmingly positive. “I would say the quality of the tournament was exceptional. I visited many clubs, and for some clubs you could consider it [an] end-of-season feeling — it was not that at all. I was highly surprised. Everybody inside the camp was very, very highly motivated,” he said.

Former Switzerland goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler was impressed by the way goalkeepers have played in possession. “There are many, many goalkeepers involved in the build-up especially,” he said. “Goalkeepers are so important, not only to save goals, to make crucial saves – of course, this is the most important one – but you also need the goalkeeper, who [is] the eleventh player. This is very clear and we have really seen a big priority here from several goalkeepers.” Martínez and Klinsmann agreed that the tournament had shown the importance of adaptation – a useful lesson for the FIFA World Cup 26. In particular, Martínez expressed the need to be prepared for weather breaks which could change the course of a game. “There’s a lot about being able to cope with those breaks that we’re not used to in Europe,” he said. “I was surprised how much the performance changes when there is a weather break, and that’s something you have to be prepared for. That will be the biggest difference that I’ve seen.” Klinsmann, recalling his own experience of playing in the high heat of Dallas during the 1994 FIFA World Cup™, said that teams had to be ready to deal with difficult conditions and not feel sorry for themselves. “This is your job - going wherever it's chosen to play in the next tournament and deal with those circumstances. And so it's about adaptation,” he said. “There will always be some issues… that are not perfect for the teams (or) for anybody involved. So it’s about ‘how do I handle these issues? How can I create a very good environment for my team in order to have them perform right at that time in the year, in June, July 2026, when we have this fantastic World Cup?’”

Former Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso pointed out that, during the FIFA Club World Cup, the South American teams had to adapt to playing stronger opponents than they would face at home. "They are normally teams that command in their countries and in their continent, but here they need to play another way because they face the most important teams in the world, that is, the European teams," he said, adding that Flamengo were an exception who stuck to their usual style of play. FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger said that the impact of the heat had been “very minimal” and that players had been “well-equipped to deal with it”. The effects were mitigated by cooling breaks and the use of up to five substitutions per team, with a sixth permitted during extra-time.

He said the public’s reaction and the attendance figures – with 22 matches attracting crowds of over 50,000 up to and including the semi-finals - had shown there was demand for the tournament. “Basically, the judge, at the end of the day, is people – do they come to watch it or not watch it?” he said. “The (FIFA) Club World Cup is needed for everybody in the world, because when you compete you want to know how good you are and there’s only one opportunity to play against the best in the world. Second, it gives a chance to everybody to become world champion. And, thirdly, it gives [us] a chance to develop strong units all over the world, strong clubs with more financial resources; that it’s not the case at the moment. So, we hope, as well, to contribute to that.”