Close But No Cigar for Dortmund in Club World Cup

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote a piece about Borussia Dortmund’s progress in the Club World Cup. Now the competition has reached its conclusion and we know that Der BVB did well, but didn’t do well enough to emerge from the tournament with the win.

We do know that they came close but ultimately fell short, yet the competition will still be seen as a success from the point of view of the German side. That is thanks to the amount of money that they will have made from the US-hosted tournament, which can now be put towards strengthening the squad for Niko Kovač.

A Semi-Final Exit

Having made it through the group stage by finishing top of group F, winning two and drawing the other of the three games that they played, Die Borussen were drawn to face Mexican side Monterrey in the last 16. They won that match 2-1, which set up a quarter-final bout against Spanish giants Real Madrid. With Fluminense having defeated Al-Hilal, Chelsea winning against Palmeiras and Paris Saint-Germain knocking Bayern Munich out, it means that the tournament had opened up nicely with just eight teams left in it as Der BVB headed to the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Things started badly for Kovač’s side, however, when Gonzalo García opened the scoring for Real after just ten minutes. That went from bad to worse ten minutes later when his namesake, Francisco García, doubled the Spaniards’ lead. Things remained much the same for the rest of the match, but things came alive in second-half stoppage time. Maximilian Beier scored to make it 2-1 in the third minute of added time, only for Kylian Mbappé to seemingly put the game to bed a minute later. Then a goal from Serhou Guirassy reignited German hopes, only for it to be too little, too late.

A Money-Making Competition

Whilst the Club World Cup will largely be seen as a failure by the wider football world, the teams that took part in it won’t care that much. FIFA made sure that sides took it seriously by offering a large pot of money for everyone to take a share of, which was gladly accepted. The top ten teams have left the United States of America with at least €29 million each, which increased the further into the tournament the side made it. Here is a look at the takeaway amount of the top ten teams:

The billion-dollar was there in order to encourage teams to take the competition seriously, which was in doubt thanks to the fact that the heat in the United States was so high as to mean that regular water breaks were necessary. In fact, clubs from Europe were given between €12.81 million and €38.19 million simply for turning up in the first place. The amount made by Dortmund was about 9% of the club’s annual revenue for 2024-2025. It was also in the region of 65% of the money that Die Schwarzgelben have spent on transfers so far this summer, which will be music to the ears of Kovač.

What the Club Might Do With the Money

Whilst Dortmund obviously missed out on winning the ostentatious gold trophy, it did mean that the players didn’t have to have their photo taken standing next to Donald Trump. It also means that the manager can look to add more additions to his squad in the coming weeks, which will allow him to be better prepared for the campaign to come. One of the big questions that a lot of the clubs involved in the tournament don’t have an answer to is how much it will end up impacting their pre-season preparations. The fact that it didn’t end until well into June is a concern for many of the managers involved.

Borussia Dortmund see Carney Chukwuemeka as a number 10.
A loan with an option to buy would be an option for BVB, with a transfer fee of 20 to 25 million euros being mooted. Talks between the two clubs are ongoing.

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— BVB Newsblog (@bvb-newsblog.bsky.social) 11 July 2025 at 09:00

Der BVB have already spent money on Jobe Bellingham, Yan Couto and Daniel Svensson, with the hope being that Carney Chukwuemeka will be added to that list in the next few weeks. Although a loan is likely initially, having done the same thing last season, the Austrian-born forward is seen as the ideal player for the German team. Although the club recovered well enough to finish in a top four spot last time out, the fact that it was such a struggle at the start of the campaign means that there is a desire from some to see major changes introduced to the squad for next season.