Club World Cup: Chelsea shines in the final against PSG

An ice-cold Chelsea FC shattered the dreams of the stunned players of the reigning Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final. The London team surprised the clear favorites from Paris with precise counterattacking at the end of the four-week tournament and deservedly won 3-0 (3-0). Under the watchful eye of Donald Trump in New Jersey, PSG were denied the fifth title of a season that had been outstandingly dominant up to that point.

World football president Gianni Infantino watched it all with confidence; for him, it was a picture-perfect day. His multi-billion dollar prestige tournament ended as pompously as he had hoped, with MetLife Stadium sold out to more than 80,000 spectators—and the US president sitting next to him in the VIP box. But opinions on the "Club World Cup" competition in its current form vary widely.

"Most successful competition" or "worst idea"

While Infantino calls it the "most successful club competition in the world" in his assessment, many see things quite differently. "There's too much football," complained Infantino's predecessor, Joseph S. Blatter. It's "always the same clubs and the same players." The fact that the professionals in the USA sometimes had to play in extremely hot temperatures was "unhealthy and cheeky," the 88-year-old said. Given the financing by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF, Blatter is clear: "We have lost football to Saudi Arabia ."

Jürgen Klopp, Global Head of Soccer at Red Bull GmbH since January, had already been vocal in his criticism of the tournament, which featured 32 teams for the first time. The former Liverpool and Dortmund coach described the Club World Cup as "the worst idea ever implemented in football." Klopp thus positioned himself against the club bosses of the German starters, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich . As financial beneficiaries, both BVB Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzke and Bayern President Herbert Hainer had nothing but praise for the event – despite their teams' quarterfinal defeats.

Former German professional soccer player and coach Pierre Littbarski shares a similar view. "We'll have a lot of injuries among our star players at the end of the year, and I don't even want to think about what's going on before the World Cup," said the 1990 World Cup winner, referring to the 2026 World Cup, which will also be held in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. "The star players have to be on the pitch, no matter what the cost," said Littbarski. "Actually, you should be taking an ice bath now and not unpacking again until shortly before the World Cup."

Only the numbers count

Infantino remains unmoved by such criticism. The FIFA President, meanwhile, prefers to emphasize that over 2.5 million spectators attended the 63 matches, which would equate to an average of approximately 40,000 per game. Twenty billion viewers watched worldwide, generating $2.1 billion in revenue. This was also thanks to US President Donald Trump. According to Infantino, he deserves "a huge, huge" thanks for his support.

"The golden age of club football has begun. We can definitely say that this Club World Cup was a huge success," Infantino concluded before the final in New Jersey, where the World Cup final will also take place in just under a year: "We have created something new. Something that will last. Something that changes the landscape of club football."

FIFA PR machine

Even before and during the Club World Cup, FIFA had fired up its PR machine and promoted its product in every area of public relations. This remained unchanged in the end. Not a word from the world football governing body about the heat and early kick-off times on-site for prime-time TV coverage in Europe. Nor about unattractive teams and initially overpriced tickets, which led to a sluggish start to the tournament. During the group stage, there were sometimes only a few spectators in the stands.

FIFA announced that there had been a "productive" meeting with "several players' unions from around the world," during which the workload of professionals and the international match calendar were discussed. However, the German players' union VDV was neither involved nor informed, according to CEO Ulf Baranowsky. "We were not present at the meeting in New York. We also did not receive an invitation," he said. "It would be interesting to know exactly who met there."

Money in abundance

Probably less interesting for the teams admitted to the competition. The $1 billion prize money for the participants is likely one reason for this. The final victory alone was rewarded with $40 million – much to the delight of Premier League club Chelsea. Paris Saint-Germain collected $30 million.

The next Club World Cup is scheduled to take place in 2029, although Infantino has not yet decided whether the tournament should take place every four or even every two years, or whether it could even include more teams.

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Chelsea FC - Paris Saint-Germain 3 :0 (3:0)

Goals: 1:0 Palmer (22nd), 2:0 Palmer (30th), 3:0 Joao Pedro (43rd)

Red cards: - / J. Neves (85./assault)

Viewers in New Jersey: 81,118