Club World Cup dream matchups: Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami vs Ousmane Dembélé’s Paris Saint-Germain, Erling Haaland’s Man City vs Kylian Mbappé’s Real Madrid

The reason: For U.S. men's national team fans, a meetup in the knockout stage between the Italian outfit and the Bundesliga side would offer the best chance for them to get a glimpse of the star Americans in action.

For Juventus, that's Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, while for Dortmund, it becomes a bit unique.

Sources tell GOAL that teenage prodigy Matthis Albert - a U.S. youth international - will be traveling with the Black and Yellow to the United States this summer for the tournament. That comes in addition to full senior international Gio Reyna, as well as fellow youth international Cole Campbell - who had a breakout season for Dortmund this past campaign.

Each club had a tough break in the UEFA Champions League this past season, but after stellar second halves of their domestic campaign, they qualified for the 2025-26 competition as well. They're on relatively level playing grounds in terms of talent, and the storyline for viewers in the U.S. could not be any better.

It would be a brilliant game.

The reason: Simply put, this is a UCL final that we could see in the early rounds of the knockout stages. On the same side of the bracket, both Madrid and City are expected to contend for the final, and if they don't meet early on, surely it will be the semifinals.

Neither team walked away with a major trophy in the 2024-25 season, but that doesn't take away from how fantastic each club is. 2024 UCL champions Real Madrid against 2023 champions Manchester City, and the two best strikers in the world going head-to-head? It would be a superb contest.

Kylian Mbappe is coming off a 42-goal season across all competitions in his first campaign for Los Blancos, while Haaland - who dealt with his fair share of injuries - bagged 22 in 31 appearances in the Premier League for City. They wouldn't be the only stars on the pitch, either, though. Madrid boasts a trio of Brazilians, including Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and Endrick, while City have a star-studded trio of Omar Marmoush, Jeremy Doku, and Savinho.

On the touchline, another storyline would also emerge.

It would also be a reunion of sorts for Pep Guardiola and Xabi Alonso, who just signed on as the new manager of the La Liga outfit. Although they never played internationally together, in the later stages of his professional career, Alonso was signed by Guardiola at Bayern Munich, and they won two Bundesliga titles together.

For fans, a contest worthy of a final could emerge in the knockout rounds, and that would make it all the more exciting.

The reason: This speaks for itself, right?

Following his unexpected departure from Barcelona in the summer of 2021, Messi signed with the Parisian outfit, where he played until the end of the 2022-23 campaign. A reunion on the pitch would be interesting, as former teammates of his still reside in Paris, and the Argentine has gone on the record multiple times, sharing his disdain for his time there.

“As I said at the time, my departure to Paris was not something I wanted, it was not something I wanted to leave Barcelona and, so to speak, it was from one day to the next," he said in 2023.

Since arriving stateside, Messi has flourished in MLS, winning the 2024 league MVP with Inter Miami while leading the South Beach club to a Supporters' Shield title and the MLS regular season points record.

PSG, meanwhile, are coming off a 2025 UCL title, and are expected to be heavy favorites to win this summer's title. With a Ballon d'Or frontrunner in Ousmane Dembele leading their line, alongside starlet Desire Doue, on paper they'd be clear favorites over the Herons. However, with Messi on the pitch against a club he never clicked with, anything could happen - and if there is one person in the world's game you can never count out, it's the Argentine himself.

The reason: This one might not be as appealing for a global audience as it would be for American soccer fans, but transfer gossip and former relationships would take center stage if this match came to fruition in the Club World Cup this summer.

Atletico star and former France international Antoine Griezmann has long been linked with a transfer to LAFC, and the Frenchman himself has even gone on the record saying he would love to move to MLS at some point during his career. After offseason buildup led to the Black and Gold potentially pouncing for him this summer, the 34-year-old re-signed with Atletico Madrid this past week, keeping him in Spain for two more seasons.

While LAFC haven't publicly confirmed their interest in the Frenchman, they've hinted at it for years now. His decision to stay in Spain will come as a blow to those plans. There are other ties between the forward and LAFC.

Griezmann also has two former teammates on the pitch for the MLS side in Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris. So if this match were to come about, it would be a contest fueled by transfer gossip, disappointment and of course, competitive friendship.

The reason: It’s been more than a decade since that unforgettable 2012 Champions League final, when a shorthanded Chelsea side stunned Bayern Munich in their own stadium - one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.

Since that night in Munich, a quiet but steady rivalry has developed between the two clubs. If they meet again at this summer’s Club World Cup, it would mark the next chapter in a matchup that is 13 years removed from that final.

Drawn into the same side of the bracket, Chelsea and Bayern could face off in the quarterfinals or the final, depending on how both teams fare in the group stage.

Bayern, led by England captain Harry Kane, are early favorites to lift the title. Chelsea, meanwhile, are aiming to re-establish themselves after two disappointing seasons, showing signs of resurgence under new manager Enzo Maresca. The club also made headlines by signing rising young English forward Liam Delap this week. A potential reunion between Kane and his England teammates - Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, and Noni Madueke - adds intrigue, but the broader storyline centers on the evolving rivalry.

In their last two Champions League meetings, Bayern comfortably beat Chelsea by a combined score of 7-1. But with promising young talents like Andrey Santos, Dario Essugo, and Kendry Páez joining the squad, the Blues could pose a very different challenge this time around.