A true underdog of the tournament, Seattle will look to shock the soccer world this summer
The Seattle Sounders will be one of two MLS sides competing in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, with Brian Schmetzer's team looking to make a statement performance in the competition.
Schmetzer, the lone MLS manager to ever win the CONCACAF Champions Cup, is also a two-time MLS Cup champion and a two-time runner-up in the MLS Championship game as head coach of the Western Conference side. Representing MLS on the touchline in the competition, one of the league's most talented managers will look to navigate the "Group of Death" when Seattle take on some of the world's best in this summer's competition.
"If we can pull out a result against any one of those three teams. That makes a statement that MLS is not so far behind some of the other teams in the world," Schmetzer told GOAL at MLS's Media Day.
Bolstered by MLS' best defense in 2024, the Sounders will look to be poised on and off the ball in the tournament – a strategy under which Schmetzer-led teams have always flourished.
With their stout defense comes a blockbuster attack that – when healthy – rivals all of MLS. The group features U.S. internationals Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris, while Argentine winger Pedro De La Vega is their X-factor.
Behind them, though, is perhaps the most talented player in Seattle's colors: 19-year-old Obed Vargas. The midfielder is one of the hottest commodities in the league, and is bound to compete at the highest level in Europe. He's someone Schmetzer has highlighted as a key player heading into the competition – and even someone they could move in the transfer market thereafter if he impresses, too.
A true underdog of the tournament, Seattle will look to shock the soccer world this summer.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be played in 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. cities, from the opener on June 14 until the final on July 13. In the U.S., fans can stream or watch matches on DAZN or TNT. Leading up to kickoff, GOAL will provide scouting reports on each of the 32 participating teams in the expanded field.
Next up is Seattle, with a look at key players to watch, and expectations for one of MLS' two representatives – along with Inter Miami – at the tournament.
IMAGNThe Basics
DOMESTIC LEAGUE: Major League Soccer
CLUB WORLD CUP HISTORY: One prior appearance in 2022
GROUP: B (Seattle Sounders, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico de Madrid, Botafogo)
OPENING MATCH: Botafogo – June 15, 10 p.m., New York
AdvertisementSeattle SoundersHow they got here
Seattle clinched a berth in the 2025 competition after defeating Liga MX side PUMAS in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions Cup final, claiming one of the confederation's four allocated berths.
IMGANThe player to watch
Jordan Morris recently became Seattle's all-time leading scorer, and he's coming off a brilliant 2024 campaign in which he produced near career record numbers. Although he is currently sidelined with a minor injury, he's expected to return to the pitch by late April – thus getting him more than a month of regular season action before the Club World Cup.
The U.S. international can play as a striker or on the wing, and his pace plus goal-scoring ability has long been a threat he provides in the attack.
In the Club World Cup, he'll be one of their primary attacking outlets on the counter and on set pieces.
Getty Images SportRealistic Expectations
Realistically? Seattle should get grouped. They'll be lucky to earn a point against any of the three teams they face during the Group Stage. However, it's a tournament – and in competition soccer, legitimately anything can happen.
Seattle is arguably MLS' most composed and well coached team. They're resilient as hell, and from a defensive scheme are second to none within the league. From a comparison point of view, Schmetzer is a lot like Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid – one of their Group Stage opponents.
It will be a fascinating tournament for Seattle and a real test. Can they prove their doubters wrong?
