Many of Europe's powerhouses are public darlings as the FIFA Club World Cup enters its knockout stages, though the overall popularity of the tournament in the United States is tenuous if overall sports betting handle is any indication.

Manchester City is the +275 favourite to win the Club World Cup, according to ESPN BET odds, but they've been far from a popular selection among the betting public in the futures market, maxing out at 12% bets and handle at DraftKings, third in both of the sportsbook's rankings.

Paris Saint-Germain has proven much more popular, leading money-share at both DraftKings (27%) and BetMGM (23.8%). At the latter book, the reigning UEFA Champions League winner moved from +1200 at open to +300 heading into the round of 16, second on the odds board behind only Man City.

On Sunday, PSG will face off against its former star Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament. ESPN BET lists PSG as a -500 favourite on the three-way line, with Miami showing +850 and a regular-time draw coming in at +550. ESPN BET reports a robust 80.2% of handle backing PSG, with an intriguing 5.5% on the draw.

Messi's squad is a longshot to win it all (80-1), but its popularity in the U.S. combined with its long odds have made it a sportsbook liability.

Other popular future selections among the betting public include Real Madrid (+450) and Bayern Munich (+700). The former is ESPN BET and FanDuel's most popular pick by handle (both 31%), while the latter is BetMGM's top liability after attracting 22% of the money and a leading 20.7% of the bets.

Still, the overall handle for the Club World Cup has been less than outstanding. One sportsbook representative told ESPN that it hasn't stacked up to other major soccer events on the calendar, and that many of its matches are attracting less handle on a day-to-day basis than MLB and WNBA games this summer.

While it could then be easy to be pessimistic about the FIFA World Cup hosted in North America next year, it's important to keep in mind that the Club World Cup is in its first year of expanded prominence and that other, more established soccer tournaments do perfectly fine at the sportsbooks.

The last two World Cups also did not have a fair shot at attracting handle, as 2018 was at the very dawn of American legal sports betting, while 2022 was unconventionally staged in autumn, dead in the middle of football season.