Post-mortem: Heat, seats and surprises

A global game

FIFA wanted the Club World Cup to help grow the sport globally and shine a light on clubs outside of Europe's most popular leagues. To some degree, it achieved that.

Brazilian teams excelled, with all four entrants advancing to the knockout stage. Botafogo produced one of the upsets of the tournament by beating PSG in the group phase, while Fluminense reached the semis.

Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal advanced to the quarterfinals and ousted Manchester City.

Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the round of 16, notching a first competitive win against European opposition for an MLS franchise, defeating Porto in the group phase. The other US teams, the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC, were less impressive, both exiting at the group stage without a win.

New Zealand's Auckland City lost 10-0 to Bayern, while a game between South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and South Korea's Ulsan drew just 3,412 fans.

A matter of quality

Messi produced glimpses of magic, but Kylian Mbappe was limited by a bout of acute gastroenteritis.

While many matches in the group stage, in particular, were competitive, only a few will be remembered for their iconic moments.

Agencies via Xinhua