The FIFA Club World Cup final is set to be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey this Sunday, where the reigning European champions, Paris Saint-Germain, will clash with a revitalized Chelsea. These two youthful teams are expected to highlight the future of football.
Both teams are vying not only for the Club World Cup trophy and the prestigious title of the world’s best club but also for an additional $10 million in prize money, which will increase their minimum earnings from this tournament to just below $100 million.
Even for these superwealthy teams, every little bit helps.
Here are some key storylines to focus on ahead of the final, as Luis Enrique’s PSG is the clear favorite over Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.
Engrossing midfield battle awaits
PSG boasts the strongest midfield in the world with Fabian Ruiz, João Neves, and Vitinha, who work cohesively, apply pressure as a unit, and excel at maintaining ball possession while keeping up the pressure. Chelsea, on the other hand, relies on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, a tenacious duo skilled at disrupting the rhythm and flow of opposing midfielders, yet they face the challenge of countering PSG’s dynamic midfield trio.
PSG’s midfield trio makes it tick and sets off everything else. However, if it doesn’t win the ball back quickly enough, then the three attackers of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue can’t stay high and be a constant threat to Chelsea’s defense, and they become more isolated despite their incredible work rate. Chelsea’s Caicedo has been in sensational form for some time and will relish his role as the chief disruptor. PSG will do its best to try and smother Fernandez. It will be intriguing to see if Maresca starts with another more defensive midfielder to match up with PSG’s trio, or sticks with his fluid 4-2-3-1 system and asks Cole Palmer to drop deeper from his No. 10 role to occupy one of PSG’s midfielders and impact its incredible rhythm.
ding extra intrigue to this area of the pitch is the fact that both PSG and Chelsea love to invert their full-backs, with Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes often popping up in midfield and central areas, and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto or Reece James doing the same thing. That makes a crucial area of the pitch even more clogged and unpredictable. Bring on the chaos.
Will Ousmane Dembele or João Pedro be the goal-scoring hero?
Both teams have received a big boost during this tournament: the arrival of attackers who can be clinical and provide a crucial cutting edge. Ousmane Dembele returned from injury during the knockout rounds and has made a huge difference. His manager is calling for him to win the Ballon d’Or (the award handed to the best player on the planet) as Dembele’s goals, assists, movement and pressing sum up everything great about this PSG side. But Chelsea received its own massive confidence boost with the signing of João Pedro, who has made a huge impact right away.
The Brazilian international came off the bench in his debut and played a big role in Chelsea beating Palmeiras in the quarterfinal. Then, in his first start, he scored two beauties against his boyhood club Fluminense to send Chelsea to this final. João Pedro had recently been on the beach relaxing, enjoying his offseason break. Yet just days after signing with Chelsea, he looks set to lead its attack in the FIFA Club World Cup final.
Both PSG and Chelsea get goals from all over their attacking lines, but having Dembele back and João Pedro on board now gives them both a dynamic, clinical spearhead to their attack. Of course, Kvaratskhelia and Palmer are mercurial talents for PSG and Chelsea, respectively, and can win any game in a split second with a majestic run, dazzling finish or clever flick. But Ousmane, Dembele and João Pedro provide the driving runs and hold-up play to knit everything together, and they have that crucial ruthlessness in front of the goal.
Chelsea may have the deeper squad
After a grueling six-game run to get to the Club World Cup final after an even more exhausting 10-month 2024-25 season that has seen both teams play more than 60 games, this final will likely be decided by which team uses its bench and squad better. And Chelsea has the deeper team with more options, especially in attack.
PSG’s starting lineup is very settled, and off the bench it usually brings in Bradley Barcola to have an impact. After that, it has some talented young midfielders and striker Goncalo Ramos to play cameo roles. Chelsea has an entire attacking unit full of international stars it can bring on to change things and try to turn the game in its favor. Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke would start for plenty of big clubs but will likely be available off the bench in the second half. Captain Reece James could start on the bench too but may be crucial as a hybrid midfielder/full-back as both he and Andrey Santos could come on to give Chelsea an extra boost when it needs it most. Chelsea will aim to keep it tight and stop PSG from dominating the tempo of the game, then look to its bench to see who can provide that extra little spark that could crown it the champion of the world.
