Where to place your bets for FIFA's Club World Cup

LAS VEGAS — For a quarter of a century, most frequently in December, an international tournament often featured just seven soccer clubs in either Japan, Morocco or the Middle East.

However, FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, has turned its Club World Cup (CWC) into a titan.

In its 21st edition, the powers finally nailed it by featuring 32 teams at 12 venues in 11 U.S. cities. It offers $1 billion in prize money, $125 million to the champion.

“A financial windfall for these teams,” WagerTalk soccer handicapper Carmine Binaco told me from Toronto. “They can always use the extra dough.”

The CWC begins this weekend, with Egyptian side Al Ahly playing Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida. The finale is July 13 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Former FIFA president Stanley Rous, knighted in 1949, had been the first futebol executive to officially endorse such a global club tournament in 1967, but it would take 33 years to hatch.

European sides won 16 of the last 20 CWC iterations. It’s even more lopsided, though, since Brazilian squads conquered the first three, in 2000, ’05 and ’06.

A big match occurs Sunday, when Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain plays Atletico Madrid at high noon local time in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

I hadn’t talked to Bianco before I took a title position with Atletico, at 15-to-1 odds, at William Hill. So I was stoked to find that Bianco also bought Atletico, at 14-1, plus he grabbed +275 on it to reach the semifinals.

“That’s a game that could decide who wins [Group B],” Bianco said of the Rose Bowl tilt. “I can’t see any of these Asian or African teams doing well in this tournament. I think the European teams will [continue to] dominate.”

Oblak top blocker

Against PSG, I took Atletico plus 0.5 goals at -115, or risk $115 to win $100. At most, I figure a goal apiece in likely warm conditions, so I’m also on under 2.5 goals, at +125.

With the half-goal, I’ve got two (draw or Atletico victory) of the three outcomes covered. (Odds and prices subject to change.)

I consider Atletico’s Jan Oblak to be the finest keeper in the world, why I’m so bullish about Los Rojiblancos (the Red-Whites).

Of all the keepers in the Big Five (the top-flight leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) to play at least 30 games this past season, Oblak, 32, is tops in allowing a mere 0.83 goals per 90 minutes.

His save percentage (78.1%) is third, and his 15 clean sheets rate second. The 6-1 Slovenian went 30-11-13.

On May 31, in a 5-0 belting of Inter Milan, PSG became only the second French club (Marseille in 1993) to win the Champions League big-eared silverware.

In shots and goals created over 90 minutes, only Bayern Munich (34.35 and 4.74, respectively) rated higher than PSG (33.91 and 4.65) in ’24-25.

“What better way for PSG to follow that up than by maybe winning the inaugural CWC in this new format?” Bianco said. “At their first home game, they trot out [four] trophies; great for the celebration.”

Messi and Miami

Unfortunately, we will not see Premier League titlist Liverpool, La Liga champ Barcelona or Serie A victor Napoli in the CWC.

“No Mo Salah [of Liverpool], no Romelu Lukaku [of Napoli], and we don’t get a stacked Barca side,” Bianco said. “Those are teams that won their leagues, but they’re not in this tournament.”

FIFA devised a funky coefficient metric to stock the CWC, which somehow included Inter Miami and Messi. What’s more, this Inter plays all of its Group A matches inside its own stadium.

“FIFA wanted Inter Miami in this tournament,” Bianco said. “They found a way to get them in. There were a lot of detractors to that, but they got them in because Messi is the showcase.”

So I took a small flyer, at 75-1, on Inter Miami, since Messi and fellow scoring threat Luis Suarez know how to navigate international events.

Miami can score, as 12 goals over its last three matches attest. However, Bianco highlighted its sieve defense. Inter has yielded 16 goals in its previous six games. Betting over its match totals might be wise.

Many minnows

All 63 matches will be streamed on DAZN, which paid $1 billion for the rights; some will air on TNT, Univision and TUDN.

(Many venues will be used in next summer’s World Cup, so the CWC is a test run for them. Unfortunately, Chicago and Vegas play host in neither tournament.)

Especially in the first two rounds of group action, Bianco advised betting European sides over African or Asian competition, and certain South American or MLS teams.

For half-unit parlay plays at Station Casinos, for instance, I used Benfica -180 over Boca Juniors, River Plate -210 over Urawa Reds, Real Madrid -1.5 goals, at -150, over Al-Hilal, Borussia Dortmund -255 over Fluminense, and others.

Just to have some skin in the games. Bianco suggested that giving goals, with a whale over a minnow, is only OK to a point.

Man City giving 2.5 goals, at -110, to Wydad Casablanca on Wednesday is fine. City features 6-3 striker Erling Haaland, who might cement his superstar status in the CWC.

But Bianco would hesitate giving 4.5 goals, which Bayern Munich does at -120, against Auckland City on Sunday in Cincinnati.

“I just can’t play Munich minus 4.5 goals,” he said. “I’ve seen weird score lines, so you just can’t take those.”

Return of Rodri

Bianco bought Man City, at +500 to win the tourney, because of the return of defending midfielder Rodri, whose injured right knee shelved him for nearly all of the Premier League season.

That, Bianco said, kept City (21-9-8) from claiming a fifth consecutive domestic crown. Rodri turns 29 on June 22, and this will be his seventh season with the Sky Blues.

“Rodri is back for this tournament fully healthy,” Bianco said. “They want to get him some action. City just wasn’t the same, all season long, without him. They need a guy like Rodri, the battery of the team.”

Should Atletico and Man City meet in the semifinals, Bianco would be assured of having a live title ticket out of that match.

Appetizers

Bianco filled out his brackets and fingered Fluminense of Brazil as a minnow that might make a splash.

It’s in Group F, which Dortmund likely will win. But Ulsan HD of South Korea and the Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa don’t figure to battle for second place. Each group’s top two advance to the knockout stage.

Bianco got +250 odds on Fluminense to make the quarters, so he believes it can defeat likely Group E winner Inter Milan in the first knockout stage.

Bianco has also invested in Palmeiras to finish first or second in Group A at +155. Palmeiras opens against Porto on Sunday in East Rutherford, and Bianco wagered under the 2.5 total at -125; that’s now -160.

“Two very good teams,” Bianco said. “When that occurs, I’m more likely to take the under in the game.”