On Sunday 13th July 2025, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea stunned European champions Paris Saint-Germain to win the FIFA Club World Cup. Inspired by a world-beating performance by Cole Palmer, the Blues were 3-0 up by half time, and – despite hammering Real Madrid 4-0 in the semis – PSG could find no response.
In this article, we’ll examine how Chelsea, a side who could only finish fourth in the Premier League last season, were able to comprehensively beat Luis Enrique’s side, who so recently smashed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final. We’ll also take a look back at each side’s route to the final, and we’ll mention an unexpected guest who hung around during the trophy celebrations!
How Chelsea Got the Better of PSG in New Jersey
Maresca had clearly put a lot of thought into how to set up his team in the final of the newly expanded version of the FIFA Club World Cup. And he really wanted to win the tournament. Okay, the Blues won it back in 2021, but that edition saw just seven teams compete, and Chelsea were the only European side. This time around, all the biggest clubs in the world were present, and winning it would actually mean something – not least a massive financial reward.
Maresca’s plan was relatively simple on paper. As the Blues boss said, “The idea was go man-to-man because if you leave spaces to PSG they will kill you, so we tried to be very aggressive and suffocate them early on and that intensity was crucial in the first 10 minutes.” They certainly did that very effectively, and then began targeting PSG’s left side, and got plenty of rewards.
With Palmer playing on the right, arguably his best position, he was able to put plenty of pressure onto the normally superb left-back Nuno Mendes, who wasn’t quite up to the task on the day. And Chelsea got their deserved breakthrough after 22 minutes when Palmer scored with a fine low drive. The England man doubled his side’s lead eight minutes later with a similar strike.
It was basically all over as a contest before the break as the Blues got their third goal through recent signing Joao Pedro, whose fine lob was met with open-jawed disappointment from the European champions.
Of course, you can never rest on your laurels when playing against a side of PSG’s quality, but despite them pushing hard in the second period, Chelsea held firm and even created chances to extend their already commanding lead. Although the Parisians enjoyed more possession (66.5% to Chelsea’s 33.5%), the Blues had more shots (10 for Chelsea and eight for PSG). But when it comes to the only stat that counts, Chelsea were the decisive winners, and that 3-0 scoreline will go down in the history books.
Chelsea’s Bumpy Highway to the Final
WORLD CHAMPIONS. 2025. 🏅👕
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 14, 2025
Drawn in Group D alongside Flamengo of Brazil, Espérance de Tunis (from, you’ve guessed it, Tunisia), and Los Angeles FC, Chelsea were always likely to progress to the knockout stage of the competition. Although they were expected to finish at the top of the pile, it didn’t turn out that way.
They got off to a solid enough start with a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles in Atlanta. But Maresca’s men slipped up badly when going down 3-1 to Flamengo in their second game. Despite taking a 13th-minute lead through Neto, the Blues conceded three second-half goals as they capitulated to the Brazilians.
After rediscovering their winning formula in a 3-0 win over the Tunisians, Maresca’s men were made to earn their (millions of) dollars against Benfica in the Round of 16. Reece James scored the opener for Chelsea after 64 minutes, but a penalty for Benfica deep into injury time sent the game to extra time. The Blues found their rhythm at that point, however, and scored three goals to run out 4-1 victors.
Chelsea faced another tricky opponent from Brazil in the quarters, but edged past Palmeiras 2-1 to set up yet another Brazilian side in the semis in the form of Fluminense. The Blues looked solid and assured as they won that one 2-0, with both goals scored by Joao Pedro, who had only just joined from Brighton. They went into the final high on confidence, and it certainly wasn’t misplaced.
PSG Impressed Against Biggest Sides
Unlike Chelsea, PSG finished at the top of their group, despite finishing level on points with two other sides. They got things going in style with a very impressive 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. But like many teams in the Club World Cup, the French champions came undone against Brazilian opposition as Botafogo beat them 1-0. The Paris side bounced back to beat Seattle Sounders 2-0 to top the group on goal difference ahead of Botafogo in second, with Atletico finishing third, and thus getting the plane home.
The knockout stage saw Enrique’s men really turn on the style as they cruised to the final without conceding a single goal in the Round of 16, the quarter-final or the semi. First up, they hammered Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0, before despatching German champions Bayern Munich 2-0, with limited fuss. It was the semi-final that was the most impressive, however.
Real Madrid had already knocked out Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, but they proved no match for PSG who demolished the Spaniards 4-0 in the semi-final. It was such a one-sided affair that most fans and pundits assumed it would be more of the same against Chelsea in the final. The Blues clearly had other ideas!
Trump Photobombs Chelsea Celebrations
Trump wanted to celebrate with Chelsea 🤝🤣💙 pic.twitter.com/nkmjblJY7n
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) July 13, 2025
US President Donald Trump is not exactly renowned for shying away from the cameras. And so it proved after the trophy presentation at the end of the Club World Cup final. Usually, once a trophy has been presented, the president/dignitary/sponsor with the deepest pockets (delete as your cynicism permits) will hand over the trophy and then get out of the way so the winning team can celebrate together and get those history-making photos. The Donald doesn’t tend to play by the rules, however, and instead of shuffling away, he decided it might be fun to hang around and help the Blues celebrate in style.
The Chelsea players looked a little non-plussed, but eventually captain Reece James just went with the flow and lifted the – rather nicely designed – Club World Cup trophy, as the leader of the free world politely applauded. Before eventually being ushered away by FIFA president Gianni Infantino!