On Sunday, soccer fans around the world tuned in to watch one of the biggest matches of the year — the Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Held at the giant MetLife Stadium in the U.S., this wasn’t just any final. It was a showdown between two very different teams: Chelsea, the winners of the Conference League, and PSG, the powerful Champions League champions.
Even before the first whistle blew, the excitement was sky-high. The two clubs had scored a combined 30 goals in the tournament leading up to the final. That’s a lot of goals! With 191 total shots between them and only six goals allowed, many experts thought this final would be tight — and that PSG would likely win.
Why PSG Were the Favorites
PSG had a lot going for them. In players like Vitinha, Achraf Hakimi, and Willian Pacho, they had some of the top passers in the entire tournament. Vitinha alone completed 666 passes — that’s more than some teams managed altogether! And their coach, Luis Enrique, said before the match that they wanted to “make history.”
Chelsea’s coach, Enzo Maresca, knew his team had a tough challenge ahead. PSG was fast on the attack, so Chelsea couldn’t afford to play a high defensive line — that means pushing defenders up the field. Instead, they needed to stay compact, win the midfield battles, and look for their chances carefully.
Also, here’s a fun fact: No Champions League winner had lost a Club World Cup final since 2012, when Chelsea themselves lost to a Brazilian team called Corinthians. So PSG were the favorites for a reason!
A Roaring Start at MetLife Stadium
As the match began, the stadium was packed and buzzing with energy. Marquinhos, PSG’s captain, was playing in his 22nd final — and he had already won 19 of his previous 21! But right from the beginning, things didn’t go according to plan for the French side.
Chelsea came out pressing hard and fast. Cole Palmer, one of their young stars, was all over the place, taking two shots in the first 10 minutes. In the midfield, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez were dominating, and PSG couldn’t find their rhythm.
Incredibly, PSG didn’t even take a single shot until the 18th minute, the longest they’d ever waited in a Club World Cup match. When Desire Doue finally took one, Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was ready and made the save.
Palmer Scores the First Goal
Chelsea’s passes were sharp and accurate. In the first 20 minutes, defenders like Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, and Pedro Neto all had 100% pass accuracy — that’s perfect passing!
As PSG’s defense fell asleep, Malo Gusto found space and passed to Cole Palmer, who fired in the first goal. Palmer became the youngest Chelsea player to score in a final since Kai Havertz in 2022. Did you know? When Chelsea scores first in a Club World Cup game, they usually win — they had won 5 of the 6 matches where they scored first!
And history was on their side: in Club World Cup knockouts, the team that scored first had won 13 of the last 14 games!
Palmer Strikes Again!
Palmer wasn’t done. Just before the 30-minute mark, another perfect pass over the top found him again, and he scored almost the same way — making it 2-0. At that point, Chelsea had 10 touches inside PSG’s box, while PSG had just two.
Even though Chelsea had the ball only 30.3% of the time, they were smart and dangerous with it. While PSG looked confused, Chelsea stayed aggressive — even picking up three yellow cards in a row from playing with so much intensity.
Joao Pedro Adds a Third Before Half-Time
PSG kept passing backward, unable to move forward with purpose. Ousmane Dembele, one of PSG’s stars, wasn’t having a good game. After he lost the ball, Chelsea pounced. They stormed forward, and Joao Pedro chipped it over Gianluigi Donnarumma, PSG’s goalkeeper, to make it 3-0 before halftime.
Chelsea’s players were working hard: Colwill and Gusto won the ball back three times each. Meanwhile, Dembele, Vitinha, Doue, and Kvaratskhelia (yes, it’s hard to pronounce!) lost the ball a total of 22 times. It was clear — Chelsea’s defense and pressing were making PSG look average.
Second Half: PSG Tries, But It’s Too Late
After a long halftime break with fun entertainment (kind of like the Super Bowl), PSG started the second half… by kicking the ball out of bounds. Not a great sign.
They did start showing some life, though. Kvaratskhelia had a strong shot, and Vitinha began controlling more of the midfield, finishing with 115 touches, the most of any player. But despite their effort, PSG couldn’t create real chances.
Dembele tried again, forcing Sanchez into a save, but PSG just couldn’t find the back of the net. Even when Bradley Barcola came in (his 64th game of the season!), it didn’t help much.
Chelsea Hold On Tight
Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Sanchez, made five total saves, helping his team keep the clean sheet. And when Liam Delap came off the bench, he nearly scored twice — in just 23 minutes, he had as many chances as any PSG player besides Doue!
Chelsea’s defenders made eight interceptions and cleared the ball over and over again. Sometimes, they had six players defending at once! PSG started to lose hope.
Frustration got the better of them. When Joao Neves pulled Cucurella’s hair and got a red card, it pretty much summed up PSG’s night.
Chelsea Were Simply Better
In the end, it wasn’t just that PSG played badly — Chelsea had a brilliant game plan, and they executed it perfectly. Coach Enzo Maresca made all the right decisions. This wasn’t luck. This was preparation, effort, and smart soccer.
Now, with this huge win, Chelsea can go into the new Premier League season with confidence. They beat one of the best teams in the world — and made it look easy.
The Club World Cup is played between the best club teams from each continent.
The Premier League is England’s top league, while Ligue 1 is France’s.
A clean sheet means not allowing the other team to score.
A chip shot is when a player kicks the ball softly into the air to score over the goalkeeper.
