Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain to win the revamped Club World Cup, scoring three goals in the first half en route to a 3-0 victory in Sunday’s final.
Cole Palmer found the net with a pair of left-footed strikes eight minutes apart, and summer signing Joao Pedro, after taking a perfect pass from Palmer, chipped in the Blues’ third goal shortly before the halftime interval.
Chelsea have now won the Club World Cup twice in their history. Their first title came in 2021 under the tournament’s previous format, when seven teams participated in the event.
This triumph was far more lucrative, though. Chelsea will take home around $125 million in prize money, and will go down as the first winners of the 32-team edition of the competition.
PSG entered Sunday’s contest as the heavy favorites at MetLife Stadium. Luis Enrique’s team arrived on the back of a sensational treble-winning campaign that culminated with a historic 5-0 thumping of Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Including that match and their Coupe de France triumph, PSG went into Sunday’s final having outscored their opposition 24-1 in their last eight games across all competitions. They steamrolled Real Madrid 4-0 in the semifinals of the Club World Cup earlier in the week and conceded just one goal in the tournament prior to coming up against Enzo Maresca’s squad.
But, with President Donald Trump among the 81,118 fans in attendance, the Blues flipped the script on PSG in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Palmer scored two almost identical goals in the opening 30 minutes, and Chelsea pressed aggressively to disrupt PSG’s usually slick passing game. The Champions League holders never found their rhythm, and Pedro put the result out of reach with a delightful finish over the top of Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43rd minute.
Palmer, so often Chelsea’s creative talisman, won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez made a handful of impressive saves to stymie PSG whenever they did surge forward, ensuring there’d be no comeback.
PSG finished the contest with 10 men after Joao Neves was sent off. Overcome by frustration, the diminutive midfielder pulled Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella’s hair in the closing minutes and received a red card after the referee was instructed to review the incident by the VAR.
Tempers then boiled over after the final whistle, with both teams clashing on the pitch. Achraf Hakimi was involved in a verbal altercation with Chelsea players. Luis Enrique appeared to swipe at Joao Pedro’s face, sending the Brazilian forward to the turf.
The loss was one of the heaviest in PSG’s recent history.
The last team to beat the French champions by three goals was Newcastle United, who earned a 4-1 Champions League victory in October 2023. PSG hadn’t conceded three goals in the first half of a match in 134 games, a streak dating back to February 2023.
However, they had no answer for Chelsea, as Maresca and his players flooded the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate their second trophy in quick succession following their UEFA Conference League triumph in late May.
Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who sat beside one another during the game, presented the players with their medals. The former stayed on stage while Chelsea hoisted the trophy.
MetLife Stadium, which staged a Super Bowl-style halftime show for the first time ever during a FIFA tournament, will host another trophy celebration for a major soccer competition next year as the site of the 2026 World Cup final.
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