Orville Higgins | Champions League no match for World Cup

For the next month, the eyes of the world will be glued to their television sets watching the World Cup. It is truly a global spectacle. I have seen figures that said 46.4 per cent of the world's population either watched live or were following somehow the 2014 World Cup final between Germany and Argentina. The simple truth is that there are very few things that so capture the attention of the world the way the World Cup does.

Despite this huge public interest, many feel (and I am not among them) that while the World Cup may be bigger, the European Champions League is where the best football is played. The basic reason why this claim is made is simply a matter of economics. The top clubs in Europe can simply go out and buy the best footballers in the world, while national teams that compete in the World Cup are restricted to picking those with a national passport. That point is true, but to my mind, grossly overstated.

The best players

The very best players in the world are usually found in only a handful of the top European clubs, in much the same way as the top players are usually found in a few nations. The top ten or so clubs in Europe usually buy out the best talents as soon as they come to the fore, while the rest of the clubs have to make do with second-tier talent.

If we agree that the top nations usually produce the best talents anyway, then we will come to appreciate that there is not a world of difference in the quality of the make-up of the top, say, half a dozen clubs and the top six national teams. Germany are the defending champions and one of the favourites for this year's tournament. They may start with a line-up that looks like this on paper - Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Jonas Hector, Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus and Timo Werner. Real Madrid, the three-time Champions League winners, started this year's final with Keylor Navas, Daniel Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema, Marcelo, Casemiro, Luca Modric and Isco. In terms of sheer quality, there is not much to choose from.

If we look at the line-up of the top nations, like Brazil and France and Argentina, we will accept that they are just as stacked in terms of big players as the top European teams. I just don't buy it that the top European Champions League teams are so much better on paper than the top nations.

Time together

One of the other arguments used in favour of the Champions League being better than the World Cup is that the Champions League teams are together for nine months of the year, and the players are much more accustomed to each other. Again, that is true. The counter to that is that Champions League teams usually have a set way of playing. Because they are playing week in, week out, there is always the likelihood of teams becoming more predictable in their play. When I see teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid play, you almost can tell what the next move will be.

In World Cup football, there is always the element of surprise, which is why the World Cup is more likely to throw up an unlikely star than the Champions League. I have found that some World Cup games can produce a greater tactical battle than European club games. Teams know months in advance which teams they will play at the World Cup. They can more accurately predict the path to glory land and which seven teams they will face over that month. Coaches are more likely to prepare better for their opponents than they can in the more uncertain world of the Champions League. This often leads to more gripping football.

So no, I don't subscribe to the view that the Champions League throws up any better quality of players (and play) than the World Cup. Certainly not at the business end of both competitions. Nobody can tell me that the Champions League final we saw this year, between Real Madrid and Liverpool, was of any higher standard than the last World Cup final between Germany and Argentina. Have we ever seen two such glaring goalkeeping errors at any World Cup final?

Let's forget the sheer on-the- field reasons. The World Cup is the stage that carries the greater pressure. Players know that mistakes at the World Cup will be remembered far longer than mistakes in European football. Escobar from Colombia paid with his life for his glitches at the World Cup. Because the public takes the World Cup far more seriously than any form of club football, the players are obligated to follow suit.

Club vs country

Very few of the very best players give more for club than country. They know their countrymen are going to be far more unforgiving for mistakes at the World Cup than for mistakes in Europe. The converse, of course, is true. great games are more revered in World Cup Football than they are in Europe. While in Europe, a player is essentially on the job, at the World Cup he is about determining his legacy. This psychological factor therefore makes the World Cup harder to deal with emotionally. A World Cup, star would have had to conquer demons in his head that he wouldn't have to haddeal with in Europe.

So this foolishness that Champions League is better than The World Cup must stop. Maybe in the group stages of both tournaments, there could be an argument that the standards are close. But when it comes to, say, the quarter-finals, the World Cup is just as likely to parade a similar, if not greater, quality of talent. In terms of passion and drama and sheer box office, though, the Champions League will always be a distant second. So, for the next month, let us all enjoy the type of entertainment that is not available at any other football tournament.

- Orville Higgins is a sports talk show host.