Nobody saw it coming. Honestly, if you’d told a Chelsea fan back in 2024 that Enzo Maresca would be lifting a global trophy at MetLife Stadium after dismantling Paris Saint-Germain, they’d have probably asked you to share whatever you were drinking. But the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 results are officially in the books, and the "Blue Wave" from West London is sitting on top of the world.
Chelsea won.
They didn't just win, though; they absolutely clinical-ed their way to a 3-0 victory in the final on July 13, 2025. It was a weird, wild month of football across the United States. We saw Al Hilal take down Manchester City in a 4-3 thriller, and we watched a PE teacher from Auckland City score a header against Boca Juniors. This wasn't your usual pre-season snooze fest.
The final that broke the script
The MetLife Stadium was packed—81,118 people, according to the official count. Most of them expected PSG to steamroll Chelsea. I mean, look at PSG's path to the final: they’d just beaten Real Madrid 4-0 in the semis and Bayern Munich 2-0 in the quarters. They looked untouchable.
Then Cole Palmer happened.
The kid is just different. He opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a finish that looked way too easy for a game of this magnitude. By the 30th minute, he’d doubled the lead. PSG looked like they were stuck in mud while Palmer was playing in the backyard. João Pedro, who had only joined the club a few days before the tournament properly kicked off, added a third just before halftime.
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PSG’s frustration boiled over late in the game. João Neves got sent off in the 85th minute for a tactical foul on Marc Cucurella—specifically, the referee noted a bit of hair-pulling. Not exactly the "European dominance" the Parisians were hoping to project.
FIFA Club World Cup 2025 results: The knockout path
The bracket for this tournament was a nightmare for the "big" teams. If you look at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 results from the Round of 16 onwards, the upsets were everywhere.
- Round of 16 Heartbreak: Al Hilal knocked out Manchester City in a game that felt like a fever dream. Marcos Leonardo scored twice, including the winner, while his mother was recovering from surgery back in Brazil. It was easily the most emotional game of the month.
- The Quarter-Final Clash: Chelsea had to survive Palmeiras. Estêvão Willian—the "Messinho" who was actually supposed to be joining Chelsea after the tournament—scored a worldie against his future team. Chelsea only progressed thanks to a late own goal by Weverton.
- PSG’s Ruthless Run: Before hitting the Chelsea wall, PSG were terrifying. They dismantled Inter Miami 4-0 (sorry, Messi fans) and then did the same to Real Madrid.
The semifinals saw Chelsea grind out a 2-0 win over Fluminense, while PSG's 4-0 thumping of Real Madrid made everyone think the final was a foregone conclusion. Football is funny like that.
Who actually took home the hardware?
While Chelsea got the big trophy, the individual awards were spread out. Real Madrid might have crashed out in the semis, but their young striker Gonzalo Garcia snatched the Golden Boot. He finished with four goals and one assist, just edging out the likes of Ángel Di María and Serhou Guirassy who also had four goals but no assists.
Award Winners at a Glance
Golden Ball (Best Player): Cole Palmer (Chelsea). No surprises here. He was the heartbeat of the champions.
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Golden Boot (Top Scorer): Gonzalo Garcia (Real Madrid). Four goals in six games.
Golden Glove (Best Keeper): Robert Sanchez (Chelsea). He made some massive saves in the final to keep that clean sheet.
Best Young Player: Désiré Doué (PSG). Even in a losing effort in the final, the kid was electric throughout June and July.
Group stage madness and the "Minnow" moments
We have to talk about Auckland City. They came into the tournament having lost their first two games by a combined score of 16-0. They were basically the punching bags of Group C.
Then they played Boca Juniors.
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Christian Gray, a PE teacher by day, rose highest from a corner to score. They actually led for a portion of the game before finishing with a 1-1 draw. It’s those kinds of stories that made the 32-team format actually work, despite all the complaining people did beforehand about player fatigue.
Speaking of fatigue, Inter Miami struggled. They managed a 0-0 draw with Al Ahly in the opener—a game where the Egyptian side's keeper, Mohamed El Shenawy, turned into a brick wall against Messi and Luis Suárez. Miami did manage to beat Porto 2-1 later on, thanks to a vintage Messi goal, but they were eventually wiped out by PSG in the first knockout round.
Why these results matter for the future
This tournament was basically a dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup. Playing in cities like Atlanta, Seattle, and Charlotte gave FIFA a look at how the travel and heat would impact teams.
For Chelsea, this is a massive validation of the "Maresca-ball" project. They were underdogs in almost every knockout game according to the bookies. For PSG, it’s another "so close yet so far" moment on the global stage, even after they finally won the Champions League earlier in the year.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the stats or re-watch the highlights, the official FIFA+ platform has the full archives. Most people are already looking toward the 2029 edition, but for now, London is blue, and the trophy is sitting in the Chelsea museum.
Actionable Next Steps:
Check the official FIFA archives for the full match replay of the Al Hilal vs. Manchester City game if you want to see the biggest upset of the decade. You can also track the 2026 World Cup qualifiers to see if the breakout stars like Gonzalo Garcia and Désiré Doué can carry this momentum into their national team setups.