Barcelona great Stoichkov: Why expanded Club World Cup will be GREAT for football

Barcelona great Hristo Stoichkov supports the expanded Club World Cup.

The Bulgarian legend also insists it won't "overload" the players involved.

He wrote for Marca: "I believe that the new Club World Cup that FIFA is going to launch starting in 2025 is a great idea that will have a very positive impact for football around the world.

"It will be a very competitive tournament with the best teams from Europe and South America, and at the same time an opportunity for clubs from other continents to compete at the highest level and grow. I grew up as a player competing with the best, we must give this opportunity to everyone. I still remember the final of the Intercontinental Cup that we lost against Sao Paulo in 1992, in which I scored a goal. I regret that in my time there were not more opportunities to compete against the best clubs from other parts of the world.

"Some are concerned about the risk of overloading players, but this competition will only be held every four years, with a maximum of seven matches for players who reach the final. Half of the players will play only 3 games, or an average of around one extra game per year!

"In my time as a player I already played a lot of games every year, between League, Cup, Champions, matches with the national team, and not always on the fields that we have today and with all the facilities that the teams have now. There was nothing better than playing in the big competitions and I always wanted more. It would have been a dream to be in a Super Club World Cup like the one that is coming."