LONDON, June 29 — Former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has expressed concern about the Club World Cup, suggesting it is the “worst idea ever implemented in football”.
The new-look 32-team tournament started earlier this month, with the final taking place at the MetLife Stadium in New York on July 13, reported PA Media/dpa news.
The Premier League resumes a month later, with Liverpool kicking off their title defence in the opening game of the season against Bournemouth on August 15.
Klopp has previously spoken about issues such as fixture congestion and in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, he suggested the Club World Cup will not provide any “real recovery” for those players involved.
“It’s all about the game and not the surrounding events – and that’s why the Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard,” Klopp said.
“People who have never had or do not have anything to do with day-to-day business any more are coming up with something.
“There is insane money for participating, but it’s also not for every club.
“Last year it was the Copa (America) and the European Championship, this year it’s the Club World Cup, and next year the World Cup. That means no real recovery for the players involved, neither physically nor mentally.”
After leaving his role as Reds boss last summer, Klopp became Red Bull’s head of global soccer at the start of 2025.
He added: “I have serious fears that players will suffer injuries they’ve never had before next season. If not next season, then it will happen at the World Cup or afterwards.
“We constantly expect the players to go into every game as if it were their last. We tell them that 70 or 75 times a year. But it can’t go on like this.
“We have to make sure they have breaks, because if they don’t get them, they won’t be able to deliver top performances — and if they can’t achieve that anymore, the entire product loses value.” — Bernama-PA Media/dpa
