Whether you love it or hate it, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is finally here. The competition has a new look this summer, with 32 of the planet’s finest heading to the United States as opposed to the six continental champions like in years gone by. And just to make sure that the clubs competing take the tournament seriously, FIFA has made a huge prize pot available to all teams in action.
With Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami kicking things off, online betting websites have one clear favorite in mind when it comes to the outright tournament winner: Real Madrid. The popular Bovada website currently has Los Blancos as the short-priced 4/1 favorite to leave MetLife Stadium on July 13th as the world champions. Considering they just forked out €10m to bring Trent Alexander-Arnold to the club one month earlier, specifically to play in this tournament, they certainly mean business.
But while the Spanish giants head stateside as the tournament frontrunners, which underdogs could spring an upset this summer? Here are three teams we have our eyes fixed on.
Atletico Madrid
While the spotlight is shining on Real, their arch-cross-city rivals, Atletico Madrid, will certainly be hoping to make an impact at the Club World Cup this summer. Diego Simeone’s side has long been considered one of the most difficult to play against on the continental stage, and their 2024/25 campaign was one of progress. Their La Liga title fight made it to the latter stages of the campaign, while they were only eliminated from the Champions League after a Julian Alvarez spot-kick was controversially ruled out in a penalty shootout defeat in the round of 16 to rivals Real, no less.
This summer, Atleti are a 14/1 firing contender, but they certainly have an opportunity to make an impact, providing they hit the ground running. They have been drawn into Group B against newly minted European champions Paris Saint-Germain, but the Spaniards did hand the Parisians a defeat in the group stages of the Champions League. If they can beat them again at the Club World Cup, then they should top their group, and that would provide them a relatively simple path to the semifinals at the very least.
With Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann providing plenty of firepower up top, Madrid’s second club certainly has the talent required to make a lasting impression. The current betting odds give them a 2/1 shot to top Group B, as well as giving them a 3/1 chance of reaching the semifinals. Both of those certainly seem enticing, and it wouldn’t surprise us to see them reach the final.
Inter Milan
It looked as though the 2024/25 season was going to be one of the greatest in the storied history of Inter Milan. Heading into the campaign’s latter weeks, the Nerazzurri were alive on three fronts, and repeating the exploits of Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning side of 2010 looked a distinct possibility. Then, disaster struck.
Inter were dumped out of the Coppa Italia after losing in the semifinals to cross-city rivals AC Milan. They were then pipped to the Scudetto by Antonio Conte’s Napoli, dropping crucial points in the latter weeks of the campaign to ultimately lose out on the title on the final day. Then, the worst of the lot, suffering a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of PSG in the UEFA Champions League final.
DÉSIRÉ DOUÉ AGAIN! PSG UP 3-0 😱
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) May 31, 2025
Manager Simone Inzaghi has since left the club, being replaced by legend Christian Chivu. Now, the Romanian’s first task at hand is making an impression in the Club World Cup, and his team will certainly be highly motivated. After their disastrous end to the season, Inter will be determined to put things right by winning the tournament and banishing the ghosts of the last few weeks and months. They are priced at 14/1 to go all the way, with the bookies clearly thinking they are a live underdog.
Palmeiras
Brazilian outfit Palmeiras is arguably the best non-European club heading to the States this summer. The Brazilian heavyweights have made a blistering start to their domestic campaign, topping Serie A after picking up huge victories against the likes of Sao Paulo and Corinthians. Now, they are handed the task of flying the Brazilian flag on the grandest stage.
They have been drawn into Group A at the upcoming tournament and are set to face off with Messi’s Inter Miami. However, the only European team in their group is Portuguese side FC Porto, a team that is certainly nothing to be feared after a third-place finish in the league last season.
Palmeiras’s odds of 5/2 to win the quartet are certainly appealing, as are the odds of 11/5 for them to reach the quarterfinals. Unlike the aforementioned Atletico and Inter, though, we can’t see them leaving MetLife Stadium with the title. Having priced them at a mighty 50/1 to win the tournament outright, the bookies clearly can’t either.
