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- Chelsea are given a boisterous introduction... but swathes of seats are empty
- FIFA had been concerned about attendances at the tournament in United States
- Sign up to DAZN to watch the Club World Cup
Chelsea kicked off their Club World Cup campaign to all the glitz and glamour you would expect of an tournament in the United States... but very few fans were there to see it.
The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia seemed determined to ramp up the occasion as the Blues took on Los Angeles on Monday.
Each Chelsea player was given a lengthy introduction, the sound of bells blared over the speakers. An enthusiastic announcer then gave a ten-second countdown to kick-off, apparently undeterred by the fact there were huge sections of empty seats in the 71,000 capacity stadium.
Only 22,137 turned up for the match where tickets for general admission were on sale for £38 and such was the lack of interest that the entire top tier of the stadium was closed.
FIFA have been concerned about attendances for the tournament and had reduced ticket prices across the board after poor take-up. However, before Chelsea's game, attendances had been healthy.
Inter Miami’s opening match of the tournament, with Lionel Messi the star attraction, drew 60,927 for their game with Al Ahly.
More than 80,000 were in the Rose Bowl on Sunday to watch Paris-Saint Germain’s 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid. But the game in Atlanta evidently failed to have the same attraction.
That is despite the fact Atlanta is one of the States' footballing hotbeds.
This city is home to both the MLS's best supported football team, Atlanta United, which averages 44,037 fans per match, along with the new home to the US Soccer various teams, including Mauricio Pochettino's men's team and Emma Hayes's women's team.
Chelsea almost sold out this stadium two years ago with over 70,000 fans watching them face Newcastle in a friendly tournament named the Premier League Summer Series.
One explanation for the low attendance may be the kick-off time of 3pm on a workday — scheduling which seems to have European TV audiences more in mind than locals.
The sense of farce grew when the second-half was delayed by five minutes as Los Angeles wanted to bring on veteran forward Olivier Giroud when the former Arsenal striker wasn't wearing a shirt.
The game eventually restarted when Giroud was given a shirt to put on.
Fans were left cringing on social media at the lack of support for Enzo Maresca's side. One wrote on X: 'Chelsea fans told me for years they are big in America and North America, look at those empty seats.'
While another added: 'What nonsense is this announcing Chelsea and lafc players individually at #FIFAClubWorldCup2025 , americans must stop trying to americanize things that work perfectly. If It Ain't Broke ... stadium is painfully empty yet a team from america is playing.'
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