Chelsea vs PSG live updates: Club World Cup 2025 final early predictions, team news and latest – The New York Times

FIFA Club World Cup
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It is 2025 Club World Cup final day with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain meeting at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The two teams have already won international trophies this season; PSG are the European champions while their opponents won the UEFA Conference League.
Chelsea have won the Club World Cup twice before in its old format, while the Parisians had never played in the competition before this summer.
You can sign up to DAZN to watch the FIFA Club World Cup final for free.
When Gianni Infantino spoke at Trump Tower yesterday, he was as modest and as self aware as ever. Just kidding, he told us all that his brainchild tournament has been an overwhelming success while skirting over the very real issues that have presented themselves.
💬 “The golden era of global club football has started. We can say definitely that this FIFA Club World Cup has been a huge, huge, huge success. Of course, there are a lot of positives, some negatives.
“We respect everyone's opinion. It has been successful. We have had over 2.5 million in the stadium. That's around 40,000 spectators per match – there is no league in the world with that number, except the Premier League which, of course, has home teams and these are neutral stadiums.”
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When looking for the most creative player at this Club World Cup, you need not look any further than these two teams.
Enzo Fernandez is enjoying a great tournament and has more assists than anyone else, with three.
He is the only Chelsea player with more than one while there are four PSG players with two.
Throughout the tournament, there hasn't been a player able to pull clear in the race for the Golden Boot. Four players are tied on four goals, but there are a few players representing the finalists that could make a late charge.
Fabian Ruiz and Pedro Neto are the most likely of those in action later.
Players that have scored two or three goals for eliminated teams have not been included
Between four and five hours until kick-off, you can already hear the national anthem rehearsal from the MetLife pitch.
It feels very, very hot already even with the clouds and 10 degrees cooler than the peak at kick-off. It’s so warm already that security staff waiting to enter the stadium are looking for as much shade as possible. They have tents, are looking for refuge under what little trees are around the stadium entrance and holding umbrellas.
Sixty-two games down, one game to go, 192 goals scored and almost 2.5million people through the turnstiles. The Club World Cup has thrown up more questions than answers, but when it comes to identifying the best team on the planet, there is surely no debate.
Any lingering doubts were blown away in the stifling heat of East Rutherford, New Jersey, as Paris Saint-Germain stunned Real Madrid and their vast ranks of supporters by rushing into a 2-0 lead inside the first nine minutes of Wednesday’s semi-final.
The piece de resistance came in the 24th minute, a flowing move that ended with Achraf Hakimi charging down the right wing and finding Fabian Ruiz for a sublime third goal.
It felt like FIFA could have crowned PSG as world champions there and then — even if there was more than an hour to play against Madrid, even if there is still a final to come against Chelsea on Sunday.
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It is now blindingly obvious that PSG are the world’s best football team
Victory in that enthralling Bayern clash brought another strong European opponent for PSG in the semi-final: Real Madrid.
Undoubtedly the most intriguing tie of the tournament, but it was another one that Luis Enrique's men steamrolled their way through.
PSG cut through Real Madrid even easier than they had done against Inter Miami and it took them just 24 minutes to race into a 3-0 lead at MetLife Stadium. It was yet another statement — like the 5-0 drubbing of Inter in the Champions League final — that the French champions are streets ahead of anyone else in world football right now.
Goncalo Ramos closed out the scoring in the 87th minute as PSG cruised into another major final.
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That victory over Inter Miami set up perhaps the tie of the tournament.
PSG stayed in Atlanta to face Bayern Munich in the quarter-final in a game that absolutely lived up to the pre-match billing. The Germans were superb but just could not find a way past their opponents' defence.
The game was, however, overshadowed by a horrendous injury suffered by Jamal Musiala on the stroke of half-time.
Bayern continued to ask the questions in the second half but it was PSG who took the lead thanks to a super strike from Desire Doue that wrong footed Manuel Neuer. Late red cards for Pacho and Hernandez gave their opponents a lifeline but Dembele put the game to bed in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
An Atlanta showdown with Inter Miami awaited the European champions in the last 16 as Lionel Messi faced his former side for the first time since leaving in 2023.
The UEFA Champions League winners against an MLS club always felt like a mismatch and that is exactly what transpired. PSG needed less than six minutes to take the lead through Joao Neves and a late flurry at the end of the half meant they took a 4-0 lead into the break.
It looked ominous for Messi and Co, but they were able to contain PSG better in the second half and managed to escape Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 4-0 defeat, which is certainly no embarrassment against Europe's premier team.
Arriving as freshly crowned European champions, PSG were many people's fancy to go all the way here in the United States.
They flexed their muscles early on against Atletico Madrid in a match that many people expected to be one of the better-contested matches of the group stage. That is not what transpired as PSG brushed them aside in a dominant 4-0 win.
The Parisians had their noses bloodied in their second match, though, as Brazilian side Botafogo took a shock first-half lead and held on for one of the surprise results of the tournament.
Despite that setback, there was still no real danger of PSG missing out on the knockouts and they secured safe passage with a 2-0 win against Seattle Sounders.
Chelsea are no strangers to rotating their squad.
Last season’s Europa Conference League victory alone was built on a starting line-up that was unrecognisable from the weekend’s Premier League fixture, with Enzo Maresca making wholesale changes from one game to another.
Things have not been quite so extreme en route to the Club World Cup final, but there is little doubt that Maresca has been resourceful in calling upon as many players as possible within an ever-growing squad in the United States.
Across the past four weeks, 27 Chelsea players have taken to the field, which is more than any other side competing in the tournament. Across their six games, Chelsea are averaging over four changes to the starting XI per game.
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Beating one Brazilian team brought another in the semi-final as Chelsea benefitting from facing the only non-European semi-finalists.
After Fluminense had upset Inter and Al Hilal in the two matches before, they seemed to run out of steam a little at MetLife Stadium. And it was a man who came through their academy that did the damage.
Joao Pedro was the hero on his full Chelsea debut; he scored a stunning opener in the 18th minute and then hammered his second goal of the game in via the underside of the crossbar.
His second effort, in the 56th minute, felt like the killer blow and the Premier League side were able to hold onto their two-goal advantage with relative ease in what remained of the second half.
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Palmeiras, starring incoming youngster Estevao, awaited in the quarter-final. Chelsea took the lead for the fifth time thanks to a nice finish from Cole Palmer but they were pegged back by a superb Estevao effort.
With the game creeping towards extra time, the Premier League side managed to find the winning goal. Malo Gusto's low cross took a deflection that completely outfoxed Weverton and the Palmeiras could only get a feeble touch on the ball as it rolled past him and into the back of the net.
The Brazilians couldn't muster a late comeback, so Chelsea advanced to the final four.
Chelsea were drawn against Benfica in the last 16 after the Portuguese side beat Bayern Munich to top spot in Group C. Reece James scored a brilliant free kick which looked to be sending his side pretty easily into the quarter-final but a two-hour weather delay changed the game.
The two teams returned to the pitch with just a few minutes left of the game and Benfica forced extra time after Angel Di Maria converted a penalty deep into stoppage time. Fortunately for Chelsea, Gianluca Prestianni was sent off two minutes into extra time so Enzo Maresca's men were able to streak away and they ultimately won 4-1.
Chelsea, coming into the tournament having won the Europa Conference League, enjoyed the benefit of arguably the easiest draw of any European teams at this Club World Cup.
They got off to a good start by beating LAFC 2-0 thanks to goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez but had their progress checked in their second match.
They took the lead against Flamengo but a chaotic six-minute period saw them go behind on the scoreboard and then lose Nicolas Jackson to another red card. Flamengo scored again to make it 3-1 to move top of Group D.
Chelsea were able to confirm progression to the knockouts with a comfortable 3-0 win against Esperance, taking them into the knockouts as runners-up.
We’d love to hear from you ahead of today’s final.
Who do you think will be crowned world champions today? How high will it rank in Chelsea's recent history of trophies if they upset the odds? Would victory for PSG cap the greatest club campaign in history?
Let us know by emailing live@theathletic.com.
Eagle-eyed fans at MetLife Stadium may have noticed a stage being built in the sky.
As football clubs from around the world battled it out on the pitch below, this curious platform slowly began to take shape over the last few weeks of the Club World Cup.
It’s podium-like shape could have made you wonder. Is this where either Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain will be crowned champions on Sunday? Or, more logically, is this where the tournament’s halftime show will take place? Turns out, it’s the latter, as FIFA confirmed to The Athletic this week.
This stage, high in the nose-bleed sections of the venue, will be where J Balvin, Doja Cat, Tems and Emmanuel Kelly will make history for FIFA. Across all its competitions, this will be the first time a FIFA tournament carries a half-time show.
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FIFA to stage Club World Cup final halftime show, Robbie Williams and Laura Pausini to perform pre-game
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This has been an historic PSG season and the mastermind behind it all has been Luis Enrique. He is hoping his players sign off their famous campaign with another piece of silverware.
💬 “We want to finish this historic season in the best possible way. Now we must open the next chapter, win more major trophies.
“We want to make more history by winning on Sunday.”
Like Chelsea, PSG were without two suspended players for their semi-final. But, unlike Chelsea, they are still without them for today's final.
Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez were both shown red cards in the quarter-final and, as they were both upgraded from the initial one-match ban, they were sent home from the tournament.
The good news from the semi was Ousmane Dembele making his first start of the tournament and looking as sharp as ever.
Enzo Maresca has had his critics during his debut season at Chelsea, but he has led them to the Conference League trophy and now the Club World Cup final — he was in good spirits when he spoke in his pre-match press conference.
💬 “In this moment, the mood inside the changing room is fantastic, top. The reason why is because they value what they have done during this competition and during the season, especially now in where we are here in this competition.
“When you start with 32 teams, and you are lucky to be here at the end with just two teams, they are proud and happy. I have the feeling we are ready to play this final on Sunday.”

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