ATLANTA -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he is not concerned about ticket sales for this summer's Club World Cup in the United States despite questions about how well the 32-team event is selling across the country.
Infantino, making an appearance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday to promote the Club World Cup, said his reasoning for not being worried is because of how stadiums filled up for friendly matches between top-tier teams during preseason tours in the United States in years past.
"I'm not worried at all to fill a stadium when teams are coming to play a World Cup, to play for something real, not just an exhibition game where sometimes the second or third squads are fielded and so on," Infantino said. "This is a real game. This is a real competition.
"This is a real World Cup. It's the best players. It's the best teams coming."
He added that once people understand the competition, they'll buy in, but admitted FIFA has to explain the Club World Cup to fans.
The 32-team competition has never been this large before and has a new format after a 7-team version was held in 2021, 2022 and 2023. FIFA officials declined to release ticket sales numbers thus far when asked by ESPN on Monday.
The cheapest seat on Ticketmaster for the June 14 opening match in Miami Gardens, Florida, featuring Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF vs. Egyptian side Al Ahly, costs $356.80. Multiple sections in both the upper and lower decks of Hard Rock Stadium show over 100 tickets available on Ticketmaster.
The same goes for the second match of the tournament on June 15 in Cincinnati between Bayern Munich and Auckland City, with the cheapest seat going for a more reasonable $94.80 on Ticketmaster and multiple sections with over 100 tickets remaining.
For the first match at the Rose Bowl on June 15 between Paris Saint-Germain and Atltico Madrid, over half of the Rose Bowl's 26 sections have at least 100 tickets available on Ticketmaster, with the cheapest seat being $133.80.
FIFA also recently announced a package where fans can buy packages of tickets to this summer's Club World Cup with a "guaranteed option" to buy a ticket to one of next summer's World Cup games, not including the final.
"When people see what it is, then they realize that they have to come," Infantino said. "I was always told in the United States of America, you need to bring the best. Americans, they just want to see the best. They don't want to see average things.
"Well, the best are coming."
Infantino also addressed the possibility of Atlanta playing host to a Women's World Cup final. He joked the 71,000-seat venue would need another 20,000 seats, but also indicated the city, which has 14 games between the Club and regular World Cups, including a World Cup semifinal next year -- has a chance to make an impression.
While Infantino may say he's not worried about ticket sales for the Club World Cup, he did make one thing clear: Tickets are still available.
The FIFA president ended his introductory comments by saying he wanted to do some publicity after showing off the Club World Cup trophy and announcing a $1 million contribution "for social projects" for children in Atlanta.
"Let me do some publicity," Infantino said at the podium. "There are still some tickets available. FIFA.com/tickets, get them and enjoy the best of the best playing for this, which is something incredible."
