Chelsea vs PSG live updates: Club World Cup 2025 final early team news, predictions 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.
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.
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.
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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
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.”
There were a few panicked faces at the end of Chelsea's semi-final win when Moises Caicedo went down clutching his ankle in the final stages. The good news for them, though, is that the Ecuadorian is good to go today.
And Enzo Maresca has a couple of players back for today's final after Levi Colwill and Liam Delap served their one-match suspensions in the semi-final.
It is hard to imagine Noni Madueke being involved given the continued negotiations regarding his future.
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So, it all comes down to this.
The first expanded Club World Cup is down to its last two teams. One of them always felt likely with PSG steamrolling their way through the Champions League on the eve of this tournament.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were not particularly well fancied to make it this far but have benefitted from a rather favourable draw to make it to the final.
Everything points to the European champions continuing their dominance here, but Enzo Maresca's and his men will be desperate to cause an upset.
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Not only will this place host today's final, it has also been selected as the host for next summer's World Cup final.
This is the fourth game in a row at this tournament being played at MetLife Stadium after the last quarter-final and both semis were held here.
With no roof and precious little in the way of shade, it is one of the more unpleasant places to play football in intense heat so the players will be glad to see that it won't be as warm here today as it has been at times over the last fortnight.
If you’re a sports fan, there is no better place to follow all your favourite teams, leagues, and players than with The Athletic.
We have been with you all the way through this expanded Club World Cup and will take you into the build-up to next summer’s World Cup, while the Wimbledon men's final is taking place today. Elsewhere, the F1 season is well into its European swing and there is Open Championship golf coming up this week.
We have the lot covered and much more, so make sure you’re fully informed with access to our full experience. And you’re in luck — you can subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here.
DAZN are the rights holders for the Club World Cup, so the final will available to view on there around the world (where available).
There are, however, other ways to tune in. DAZN agreed deals with a number of broadcasters to show a selection of the matches and the final is part of that selection.
TBS and truTV will be showing it in the United States, while Channel 5 are doing the same in the UK.
Like for the two semi-finals earlier in the week, it is a 3pm local time (ET) kick-off for Chelsea vs PSG.
That will please those of you following along from Europe. It starts at 8pm (BST) in the UK and 9pm (CET) in Central Europe.
Meanwhile, it is 12pm (PT) for anyone tuning in from the west coast.
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Hello! And welcome along to The Athletic where it is 2025 Club World Cup final day.
It has been a long month of football in the United States and, in a few hours' time, we will have a new world champion.
The two teams fighting it out for the trophy, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, have both won European honours this season but want to finish the season with more silverware.
Still a good few hours until kick-off in this one, so stick with us as we countdown to the big game!

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