FIFA President Gianni Infantino has highlighted the global significance and inclusive ethos of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup 2025, telling dignitaries, guests and media representatives on a visit to the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California – one of the historic new competition’s 12 venues – “we are welcoming the world in the United States of America”. FIFA's new flagship club competition will grace the global stage from 14 June to 13 July 2025, when the world's 32 leading teams from all six confederations compete across 12 stadiums in 11 US cities to be crowned the very first FIFA Club World Cup champions. Millions of fans from around the world are expected to attend the tournament’s 63 matches, with billions more engaging with the merit-based spectacle remotely.

“It is a true honour for me to be standing here in front of you, but also in front of this incredible, iconic stadium,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressing attendees including Rose Bowl Stadium CEO Jens Weiden, Pasadena Mayor Victor M. Gordo and FIFA Legend Alessandro Del Piero. “A legendary stadium, which is really a piece of art in itself, which has written in the last 100 and a couple of years, some of the most incredible stories of the legends of our sports; of course, our sport, soccer, but also football, or 'American football' as we call it, and many other events, which took place in this historic arena, in this historic venue.” “The 32 best club teams in the world will determine, for the first time in history, which club, which team, is the best. These 32 teams come from 20 countries, but their players come from 86 different countries. We’re welcoming the world in the United States of America, in 11 host cities, 12 beautiful stadiums. We are welcoming the world here, in Pasadena, in Los Angeles, and I’m very, very proud, as FIFA President, to be standing here with you and in front of you.”

The FIFA President also paid tribute to the first responders and those impacted in the Los Angeles, Pasadena/Altadena community by the devastating January 2025 wildfires. As a token of appreciation, Mr Infantino shared that FIFA will be donating two tickets per first responder for FIFA Club World Cup matches staged at the Rose Bowl Stadium. “On behalf of FIFA and on behalf of the global football – or global soccer – community, I would like to, of course, give my and our sincere thanks and appreciation to all those who have operated, all those, all you and all of your colleagues who operated to save lives, to help people to fight one of the worst disasters of the last decades. Lives were lost and our prayers, of course, go with the families of those who have lost their lives,” the FIFA President said, before welcoming members of the Pasadena Fire Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles City Fire Department and Los Angeles Sheriff Department, as well as the Fire Chief of the Angeles National Forest, on stage. “Many people have lost everything they have, but yet you were here. You were here to give hope and relief to people, and a lot of the activities were starting exactly from this place, and that’s why I thought, and we thought at FIFA, that it would be appropriate to recognise the work of the first responders, and also to award 30,000 tickets of the FIFA Club World Cup matches here in Pasadena to all first responders.”

Earlier in the day, the FIFA President made guest appearances on FOX 11's morning news broadcast Good Day LA and sports talk show The Herd with Colin Cowherd. In addition to showcasing the new FIFA Club World Cup Trophy - which was designed by FIFA and crafted in collaboration with global luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co. and will be awarded to the groundbreaking competition’s first-time winners - Mr Infantino discussed the transformative effect that the tournament will have on football in the US.

He said: “When you see every child, girl or boy now, plays soccer, what happens then is that the most talented players, they go to other American sports, right? Because they maybe don’t see a path to glory through soccer. But they will see it now – this year at the (FIFA) Club World Cup with the best teams in the world, next year with the (FIFA) World Cup with the best countries in the world - they will see that there is a path to glory, a path to something incredible, and this will make a big difference.”