Chelsea became the first FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) champions of the competition’s new era, comprehensively defeating Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final at the MetLife Stadium. A Cole Palmer brace did the early damage, as Luis Enrique’s side were denied what would have been a remarkable clean sweep of silverware in 2024/25.
The group stages saw both of these European giants defeated by Brazilian sides, but they roared through their respective halves of the knockout tree to contest this showpiece event in the outskirts of New York City. Spearheaded by semi-final hero João Pedro, Chelsea launched an initial barrage which nearly produced an opener when Palmer’s strike on eight minutes took a slight deflection off wide off Lucas Beraldo.
PSG responded by exploiting their opponents’ defensive frailties, and only a last-ditch Marc Cucurella interception stood between Désiré Doué’s pass and an unmarked Achraf Hakimi. But Enzo Maresca had a clear gameplan, and PSG were powerless to resist the surging Blue sea. Like a Hollywood hero rising to the occasion, Palmer devastated the opposition and delighted the Chelsea contingent with two sublime composed finishes within eight minutes, firstly rolling into the net from Malo Gusto’s lay-off, before a scintillating second that came after a twisting solo run.
Appropriately for a match introduced by Michael Buffer, the reigning European champions looked thoroughly punch-drunk after the second goal. And when Palmer slipped João Pedro clean through for the Brazilian to adroitly chip a third over Gianluigi Donnarumma, it looked as though Les Parisiens’ superiority over Premier League sides – as shown in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) eliminations of Liverpool and Arsenal earlier this year – was to finally come to a swift and ruthless end.
PSG’s hopes of a riposte early in the second half were almost single-handedly quashed by their opposing goalkeeper. Robert Sánchez made superb reflex saves to keep out efforts from Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha, while Donnarumma didn’t do much worse to bat away a whipping strike from substitute Liam Delap. Frustration inevitably grew in Enrique’s dugout, as Chelsea’s aggression and tenacity in the final third nullified anything PSG had to offer, and they were dealt a final blow with six minutes to go when João Neves was shown a straight red card for pulling Cucurella’s inimitable hair.
Having lifted the UEFA Conference League in May – their first trophy since they last won the CWC in 2021 – Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea tenure bears more fruit with another piece of silverware in quick succession. They also take home over £90 million in prize money, while PSG miss out on becoming the first side since Barcelona in 2015 to win the CWC and UCL along with the domestic league and cup double.
