Jude Bellingham, Courtois, Julian Alvarez & Antoine Griezmann reflect on upcoming FIFA Club World Cup 2025

The tournament is set to kick off in a few days time

This year’s FIFA Club World Cup kicks off on the 14th June, with the opening fixture seeing one of the tournament’s host cities, Inter Miami, take on Al Alhy at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The tournament will be staged across 12 venues in 11 US cities, featuring the biggest and best teams from around the world, culminating in the final on July 13th at New Jersey’s iconic MetLife Stadium.

Below are the thoughts of Atletico Madrid stars Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and midfielder Jude Bellingham ahead of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Jude Bellignham

“I think all our games will be brilliant. We have fans all over the globe. We had pre pre-season in the USA and every year we seem to get flooded with even more fans and it will be a beautiful thing for us and we are always confident in the support we will have, no matter where we play.

It’s brilliant to have the experience and to go into the tournament with an open mind there is a lot that we can learn and maybe implement into our own style of play and pick things that we like from their teams and like I said it’s something that you don’t get to experience often so I will make the most of it personally.

“It’s really exciting. The atmosphere is different on a pre-season tour and the games are different and you sometimes feel like you are going through the motions and it’s a different dynamic for sure. By the time we go there we are there with a purpose to win and I’m sure we will try and factor in that we have had a long season and there will be time to enjoy our downtime and take in the experience of the culture and things like that but the most important thing obviously as always is the football and hopefully we will try and win.

“Any trophy is important and the other 31 teams are there in merit based on the achievements in their own regions so it’s a pretty big deal in my eyes, it’s an opportunity to win another title and a new competition and that’s not something we take lightly, so it’s history and I’ve said before there’s not many things you can do at this club that haven’t been done before so it’s nice to have a new opportunity.”

Thibaut Courtois

“We always go to tournaments to win, and we are probably one of the favorites. We want to play to win. We are going to do everything we can to get as far as possible.

“It’s a different country, a different culture, also a different sports culture. Their games have more spectacle, even inside the stadium with all those big screens and stuff. I don’t know how much of the culture we can experience between training and travelling, but it’s always nice to see different cities. We’ve, of course been to Miami and Charlotte and Philadelphia. I’ve been too personally. Those are cities I have already visited. It’s always fun to play there.

“I hope there will be a lot of fans and different cultures. They normally love sports in the United States anyway, which is where we play friendly matches every year in the summer. Hopefully they will warm to the Club World Cup and next year’s FIFA World Cup.

I’m looking forward to it. The club and the supporters expect. We play every year to win every trophy. You have that pressure and winning trophies is obviously a source of adrenaline you want to keep feeling constantly. I think you want to keep winning every year, and that’s why you constantly play at a high level, because that is what is expected.”

Julian Alvarez

“This new World Cup makes me very excited. We are one of the best teams in the world. To be there, to be part of it, to represent LaLiga with this club is something very nice. And also for the excitement of all the people, of all the fans of our club, for playing this beautiful competition.

Teams from all over the world, with different cultures, with different types of football games. of different continents and that all 32 teams gather together there will be something beautiful. The goal, obviously, is to compete, to win. We know it’s going to be a difficult tournament, but we’re going to prepare to do it in the best way and try to get as far as possible.

We know that this club has fans from all over the world and always through social media, we get the love and support. And well, being there in the United States, surely there are people from Atletico Madrid too. And well, it’s going to be a nice opportunity for everyone to support us”. 

Antoine Griezmann

“The thing that excites me the most about this World Cup is that it’s going to be the first. Being part of it is a pride for me and for the club. At the end of the day, we really want to go to the United States and start our first game against Paris. They are playing very well at an impressive level, but I think we are a team that can hurt them and we saw it there in their home, where we won the game in the last second.

And I hope we can have a great game. I think the atmosphere will be nice and different, a bit like a World Cup in countries with a lot of mix in the stands and that makes the game even more beautiful to play and to see. For us, being there in that tournament was very important, it was our goal last year, we were able to enter. We really want to have a good competition. We know that there will be a lot of people from Atleti, from Spain or from other countries, who will go to see the games.

And to us, right? To give them the show and the desire of those who are not fans of Atleti, to be made of Atleti. The truth is that I went once or twice to Los Angeles. As you know, I’m a big fan of the NBA, NFL, and I’ve started playing a lot of baseball. So, for me, it’s going to be cool to be able to play there, but I don’t want to be a tourist either. I really want to play, to win, and to do things right.

I’m going to enjoy the moment that will come and I hope we can have a great tournament, but playing there It’s going to be beautiful. We dream big things and it’s up to us to prove it in the field that we can compete against anyone and that we have the level to get to the final.”

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