Chelsea Kick Off Club World Cup in Embarrassingly Empty US Stadium

Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup opener against LAFC may have ended in a routine 2-0 win, but it played out in front of a sea of red seats, not roaring fans.

The match at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium – which can accommodate up to 71,000 – had a shockingly low turnout, with just 22,137 people in attendance.

Entire tiers were closed off, and even the lower sections were visibly patchy.

Held on a Monday at 3pm local time, the fixture was ill-timed for working fans – and it showed.

“I think the environment was a bit strange,” admitted new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.

“The stadium was almost empty… but we are professionals, and we have to adapt to the situation.” His side adapted just fine on the pitch, but off it, the optics were less than ideal.

Tickets were still available mid-match – with some selling for as low as £26 online. Despite being priced high in the build-up, the drop in cost wasn’t enough to fill the stands.

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With LAFC fans having to travel more than 2,000 miles across the US, their support was vocal but small.

Ironically, their “150 ultras” generated more atmosphere than the thousands of absent Chelsea faithful.

The newly-expanded Club World Cup – played exclusively in the US – is being used as a test-run for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But if this was a litmus test for interest, the results were damning.

As reported by the BBC, FIFA insiders had anticipated a crowd closer to 26,000. Instead, the half-empty stadium raised serious questions.

“The sight of almost 50,000 empty seats will come as an early embarrassment for FIFA,” wrote BBC Sport’s chief football writer Phil McNulty, calling it a “very bad look” for a competition FIFA is trying to build into a global spectacle.

American sports journalists also weighed in. Doug Roberson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blamed the kickoff time and unfamiliarity with the tournament.

“It’s a tournament that doesn’t mean a lot to people in the US,” he said. “They’re saving money for the World Cup.”

Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald didn’t mince words either: “There was no true local organising committee. FIFA did it all in-house. You can’t just expect people to turn up.”

Whether the knockout rounds draw better crowds remains to be seen. For now, the Club World Cup is struggling to win over fans – and Chelsea’s victory was drowned out by the echo of empty seats.