I felt hopeless after this match. Everything was set up for a dc win but they still failed. Really put us fans off MLS teams in our place.
DC United did really well until the second half. Speaking of history, two previous CWC finals will be replayed in the group stage: 2001: Bayern Munich - Boca Juniors 1:0 AET 2022: Real Madrid - Al Hilal 5:3
Maybe this demonstrates why you shouldn't place much importance on a result for a team you don't even support? This match has no lasting impact on the future of MLS after that point.
If Boca fans are taking this tournament seriously where ever they play is about to see a lotttt of Argentinians I remember that Libertadores final that got moved to Madrid. Unless there are a lot of fans of Argentinian club soccer in Madrid those fans travel REALLY well.
Both statements are true. Argentines in Spain are the largest community of Argentines abroad. But their fans also really travel well. I attended the 2009 CWC with Estudiantes de la Plata and 2018 CWC with River Plate and their fans were outstanding. Of course a bit more subdued in the latter as River got stunned in the oasis city of Al Ain by the hosts.
That's why I was a bit surprised at the lack of atmosphere for Argentina games at the last Copa America. I guess the Messi tourists priced out the fans.
But of 300,000 Argentinians in Spain how many support those two teams? I mean if Notts County play in the US or NYCFC in England I might make the effort, for any other team no!
As a general rule, club fans are much more vocal and dedicated. National teams attract a lot of casual fans. I urge anyone attending next year's CWC to pick the South American matches. As someone who has attended five CWC's - you will be in for a treat.
That's not true in Europe. You get a hardcore of national team fans just like you get a hardcore of club fans.
I'm not Argentinian so can't say with certainty - but those two are very popular. When it comes to Al Ahly about half of Egypt supports them. It's almost like the national team playing. That's not been my experience. Club games usually trump national team games in atmosphere.
Seems like there's a fantastic atmosphere at Scotland, Wales, England, Dutch and Croatian games in particular. Rangers and Celtic fans even temporarily put their differences aside to cheer as one until they land back at Glasgow at least. Thinking about it the atmosphere at Swiss NT games dwarfs any domestic game and remember Iceland in 2016?
They are undoubtedly the two most popular teams, though I don't know how many people moved to Spain from outside Buenos Aires, nor do I know how popular those two are outside Buenos Aires in Argentina. Internationally, casual observers probably only know those 2 clubs if they had to name clubs from Argentina.
For the big national team tournaments some fans REALLY bring it, and since entire countries support their national teams, there are simply more fans, even if the percentage of hardcores is lower. On another note, its very possible that some of the fans at the Libertadores final were neutrals. If you're a football fan in Madrid you're probably literally going to have one chance in your life to attend a South American final.
As a Swiss who has attended many national team games and important domestic and international (UEFA) matches by Swiss clubs that is definitely not correct. It also depends how developed/healthy the club game is in the country. So yes - in Iceland the national team matches get all the attention and traveling support.
Admittedly I haven't been to a Swiss domestic game since the mid 1990s. But the Swiss following at the Euros is very noisy.
I thought you said you never made it a Swiss league match? Which club? Anyway, coming back to the CWC. When Corinthians won the 2012 title over Chelsea, they brought 30,000 fans to Japan. These are core supporters who travelled half around the world. I would argue that atmosphere was better than your typical Brazil match at the World Cup. And I attended a Brazil World Cup match as recently as 2022. [EDIT] Here is a sample:
My friend Yehuda reminded me that I went to a FC Zurich game at a Letzigrund. It was such a memorable experience I'd completely forgotten.
People already forgot that South America won the first 3 CWCs and the very first one had an all CONMEBOL final. Europe wasn't as unbeatable as they are now, even just 20 years ago.
This also explains why they won - was the biggest match of the year for them, and a friendly level match for Chelsea.
There were two good defensive performances by Internacional. Liverpool had 17 corners to 0 and had 3 goals disallowed by the same Canadian AR. Barcelona had 17 shots of which 6 were on target compared to 10 and 2.
Corinthians valued it more than Chelsea - that's true, but Chelsea showed up with the intention to win and played their starting eleven. The loss and away atmosphere also left an impression on them and the next time they played in it (2021 - with Pulisic) they made sure to win it. I was there in person, with thousands of Palmeiras fans. Since that 2012 match European clubs have been undefeated. 22 consecutive matches. That will likely change next year. If I was to pinpoint it today it would be the Salzburg - Al Hilal match.
2005 was won by Sao Paulo. 2006 by Internacional. That wasn't technically three in a row. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Porto got in some European wins. FIFA recognizes all historical Intercontinental Cup winners since 1960 as club world champions. Yes, that means you had two winners in the 2000 calendar year. South America's downfall in the competition started in 2007, with only that Corinthians win in 2012 as a bright spot thereafter. 2000: Corinthians (BRA) - FIFA Club World Cup winners 2000: Boca Juniors (ARG) - Intercontinental Cup winners 2001: Bayern Munich (GER) 2002: Real Madrid (ESP) 2003: Boca Juniors (ARG) 2004: Porto (POR) 2005: São Paulo (BRA) - FIFA Club World Cup relaunch 2006: Internacional (BRA)