Clubs, not countries: FIFA picking up promotion for inaugural Club World Cup

1 of 3

As a lifelong fan of Portugal, Pedro Pires was ecstatic late Sunday afternoon, when Portugal defeated Spain in penalty kicks to win the UEFA Nations League.

As the owner and operator of Pegasus Sporting Goods on Ferry Street in Newark, Pires was a winner long before the match started.

Throngs of fans — and therefore customers — gathered in the Portuguese section of the Ironbound whenever Portugal plays.

“It gets absolutely insane here,” he said. “Business definitely picks up.”

Pires is hoping — and hopeful — that this will be the case during the Club World Cup, which will include two teams from Portugal’s house league when it begins play this week at sites across the country, including MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The inaugural event, which features top club teams from around the world as opposed to national teams, is trying to find its footing in the U.S., where casual fans may not automatically understand how this summer’s event differs from the FIFA 2026 World Cup, which will feature the national teams.

Officials connected to the Club World Cup said FIFA will be looking to raise the event’s profile this week. By all accounts, interest — and ticket sales — have underwhelmed.

In addition to raising interest, FIFA said there will be opportunities for fans to attend practices of the four clubs that will camp in New Jersey — AL Ahly (Egypt), CR Flamengo (Brazil), FC Salzburg (Austria) and FC Porto (Portugal) — and they will do activations across the area, such as the FC Porto Fan Fest that was held Saturday (as part of Newark’s Portugal Day) in the street in front Pires’ sporting goods store.

The event, which featured legends from FC Porto, certainly raised some awareness.

***

Michael Timoteo was thrilled to bring his family to the FC Porto event. And by family, he meant more than his wife, Jessica Silva, and their two young children.

Timoteo is part of a group that recently started a Porto fan club in the area. He estimates more than 30 people from the club will be at MetLife Stadium Sunday, when FC Porto takes on SE Palmeiras (of Brazil).

The group also will be there in full force when Porto takes on Al Ahly on June 23.

Timoteo can’t wait.

“I love this event,” he said. “This will be the first time I’ve been able to see Porto play outside of Portugal.”

How excited is he? Timoteo said he also has tickets to see Porto take on Inter Miami (and Messi) when they meet in a group stage match June 19 — in Atlanta.

This is the type of fan reaction FIFA had in mind when they created the tournament. And while it may catch on later, it has been slow to do so.

Tickets for the opening game — Saturday night in Miami, featuring Lionel Messi and Inter Miami — not only are still available, but prices have also dropped.

At the Fan Fest last Saturday, FIFA representatives were giving out QR codes that can connect fans to 20% discounts on tickets.

***

Pires, whose shop did a steady stream of business on Saturday, is hoping it will continue.

He’s confident it will. He said he’s been the top seller of FC Porto gear for years. In fact, his store has an exclusive contract with the club, he said.

“We’ll have items here connected to the Club World Cup that you can’t even get in Portugal,” he said.

Porto gear has been moving quickly in recent days, he said. And he has reason to believe it will only get better.

Pires said he’s been told more than 5,000 Porto fans are expected to come to New Jersey for its opening group stage match Sunday.

He hopes many will buy the unique Dragons jersey that he only has available.

Don’t be confused. Pires’ shop has more than just Porto gear.

National team jerseys and scarves are everywhere — and are going fast.

In addition to national team items, which always sell, Pires said he has seen an uptick in sales of Benfica, the other team from the Portuguese home league that qualified — despite the fact Benfica will play it games in Florida.

“Jerseys for Benfica also are selling, but not as much, because they don’t have any games here,” Pires said.

At least not in group play.

MetLife Stadium will host a quarterfinal, both semifinals and the final.

***

Club vs. Country.

That is the biggest challenge for the Club World Cup.

The 32-club event is bringing together some of the most famous clubs in the world, including PSG (of France), Real Madrid and Atlético (Spain), Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Chelsea and Manchester City (England) and Inter Milan and Juventus (Italy).

If you support those clubs, the event means more.

If you don’t, then you may be like Antonio, the longtime owner of Ferry Street Barbeque, which is just a few doors down Pires’ sporting goods store.

Antonio loves soccer and loves his native land. And whenever Portugal plays, he also sees a huge uptick in business — as he did Sunday.

Antonio said he was intrigued by the Club World Cup, but he’s not anticipating it as much as Pires is.

The reason: “Porto’s not my team,” he said — pointing to a photo on the wall featuring Sporting CP, which currently is on top of the La Liga table but not a participant in the event.

For Antonio, asking him to get excited for Porto or Benfica is like asking a Yankees’ fan to get excited for the Red Sox or the Dodgers.

Will he have the games on?

Sure, he said.

“But it won’t be like when Portugal plays,” he said.