The situation
The calendar grips the 2023 Club World Cup that Real Madrid has to play as the current European champion. The Asian representative will not be known until February 26, when the Asian Champions League final will be played, and only from that moment (unless FIFA advances that game) can it be played. The problem? That Madrid will be fully immersed in a veritable jungle of relevant parties. If it were to be carried out once the team that will accompany Real Madrid, Flamengo, Seattle Sounders, Wydad Casablanca and Auckland City is known (the team representing the host country also remains to be known, yet to be defined), the only weeks available would be from February 27 to March 5 and from March 6 to 12. Both just between the first leg and the second leg of the very tough tie between Madrid and Liverpool in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The decisive return match will be on March 15 at the Bernabéu. But in both cases, in addition, Madrid matches would have to be postponed. On March 5 there is a Betis-Real Madrid and on March 1 the Spanish Federation marks the rounds of the Copa de Rey semifinals, a case that obviously would only affect Madrid if it reached that point in that competition. Nor could it be, after that major game at the Camp Nou, the following week.
The details
That period of days (from March 20 to 28) is reserved by FIFA for matches of the national teams. From ‘behind’, that is, once the League and Cup are resolved, it becomes almost impossible. The League ends on June 4 and the Champions League final is on the 10th. Even if Madrid didn’t qualify, it sounds unrealistic to think that FIFA could counterprogram this game of planetary interest with a tournament like the Club World Cup. Nor could I place it as a finishing touch the following week, because from June 12 to 20… there is another stoppage of selections. To take it further would be to invade, de facto, the preseason and catch teams like Auckland, who stop competing from March to November, completely out of place…