Easy route to the final? Chelsea battled for six years to make it here

Times

12-07-2025

Los Angeles, Espérance Sportive de Tunis, Benfica, Palmeiras, Fluminense: this is, on the face of it, a slightly underwhelming list of clubs Chelsea defeated on their way to the Club World Cup final. But it isn't, not really. It's not even close.
Try Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle United; plus Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Real Madrid and Manchester City again. And, only then, can the Club World Cup begin. This isn't about one month one summer. Done right, it is a campaign lasting 58 matches. Chelsea's run has involved two owners, three managers and 58 players, everyone from Kurt Zouma to Josh Acheampong. The first match was a 4-0 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford on August 11, 2019, and the last will be played on Sunday, a gap of 2,163 days. The finals may be truncated, but the Club World Cup is in many ways the longest tournament in football.
To get here, Chelsea had to win the Champions League, which they did on May 29, 2021, against Manchester City, under Thomas Tuchel. Yet, first, they had to qualify for that Champions League tournament, by coming fourth in the Premier League in 2019-20, with Frank Lampard in charge. The 27 players used in that campaign, plus the six additions utilised in the Champions League the following season, are all part of the success of the further 25 players Chelsea have used here. Without Tammy Abraham's goals — no João Pedro double in the semi-final. Without the defensive diligence of N'Golo Kanté in 2021 in Porto, no Moisés Caicedo in the same role in New Jersey.
This has always been the Club World Cup's problem, no matter the format. Few see beyond the tip of their nose, the climax in which the best European teams invariably pull through. Yet even when it was a competition that European teams entered at the last four stage, playing only two games before the trophy lift, it still required a successful league programme and a Champions League victory to qualify. In the new 32 team format, incredibly, Chelsea's path is among the least onerous.
Take the teams that are here by co-efficient, such as Sunday's final opponents, Paris Saint-Germain. Their victory in the 2024-25 Champions League qualifies them for the 2029 edition, not this one. To get here, they had to hold a superior Uefa co-efficient ranking across the four qualifying seasons. So that means reaching the Champions League, and doing relatively well, in every campaign from 2020-21 to 2023-24. So: 141 games in Ligue 1 (France lost 11 fixtures in the 2019-20 season owing to Covid), and 40 in the Champions League, including two runs to the last four, a total of 181 games and it should have been more. And then some genius thinks it's a meaningless tournament because Bayern Munich put ten past Auckland City.
The odd mismatch will always happen in a competition that seeks to include representatives from all confederations. That is true of the World Cup, too. Yet no championship demands sustained success quite like this one. And the irony is, Jürgen Klopp appreciated it when Liverpool played Flamengo in the old Club World Cup in 2019. 'The worst idea ever implemented in football,' he called this competition recently. Yet, back then, trying to land a prize that had eluded his club — Jamie Carragher said missing out to São Paulo in 2005 was one of the regrets of his career — he felt differently.
'Flamengo got sent here from their country with a clear order: to win it, and come back as heroes,' Klopp said. 'We got told: stay at home and play in the Carabao Cup. We all spoke about it a few months ago and I asked the players how did they want to play it. Not deciding whether to play, but how did they see it? And they said: 'We go!' Since then it's never changed. Since we are here we respect this more and more, second by second because you get a feeling for it, and you watch the games and it is all or nothing.'
The expansion was already proposed in 2019 and Klopp was worried about the demand it would put on the players. No change there. Yet, involved, he got it. Alisson, his goalkeeper, had explained how his team, Internacional, beating Barcelona in the final when he was 14 was one of the greatest days of his life. One cannot help but think the disrespect shown in many quarters is born from ignorance. It is hardly a surprise that the final has ended up a Champions League rerun — Chelsea and PSG have met eight times in that competition, although not since March 9, 2016 — given global football's balance of power. 'They are the best of the world, we are the best of Brazil,' Flamengo's coach, Jorge Jesus, explained on the eve of the 2019 final.
Indeed, group stages and protracted knockouts lessen the impact a fired-up South American team can make in a one-off game, as used to happen. Chelsea caught a cold against Flamengo early, but subsequently dismissed Palmeiras and Fluminense. Yet matches between Europe and Brazil have ended in four European wins, three Brazilian wins, and two draws, closer than anyone had a right to expect, particularly when the very best of theirs are all with ours.
Still, even when Uefa provide both finalists, this isn't just a Champions League reshoot, because the journey, as well as much of the opposition, is unique. João Pedro, who only signed on July 2, scored the most recent goal of Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign, but Mason Mount, who arrived in short trousers in 2005, scored what might be termed the first. That was on August 18, 2019, at home to Leicester City. João Pedro was still a teenager in his debut season at Fluminense, awaiting a work permit and a move to Watford, in the Championship. Far from being a flash in the pan, one could argue this has been a long time coming.
A season that ends without major trophies is never good for Real Madrid, but there is a curious degree of schadenfreude at what is perceived as a failed move by Kylian Mbappé. Strange, because he scored 44 goals — the most of any player in his debut Real season. The prolific Cristiano Ronaldo got 33. So let's not be too quick to judge. Despite Real's humbling by Paris Saint-Germain last week, this is far from over.
Jordan Henderson's move to Brentford is interpreted as a boost for his England career. A higher level of football, big tests, more visibility. All of this is true. Equally, there are also drawbacks. A higher level of football, big tests, more visibility.
At the moment, Thomas Tuchel can pick Henderson for the good vibes, leadership qualities and experience and it is hard to argue the football. Very few of us saw enough of Ajax to know whether Henderson's contributions were worthy or not. Yet we'll all see Brentford. If Henderson is holding his own, regularly, in the team then Tuchel's case is made. Yet if he is on the periphery or, worse, if he is a point of weakness, then selecting him for England ahead of a rising talent such as Adam Wharton becomes ever more controversial. And what does it say about the personality of Tuchel's squad if it continues?
If Henderson can't get in at Brentford, it is hard to see how he can be justified among the best 23 for England, at which point Tuchel needs to take him on to his coaching staff. Henderson can still be influential, but England aren't good enough to carry passengers.
Most Chelsea loyalists sound rather despondent about their chances against Paris Saint-Germain. And, yes, the European champions look the superior team. Yet Chelsea were not fancied in the Champions League semi-finals against Barcelona in 2012, against Bayern Munich in the final that year, against Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2021 and certainly not in the final with Manchester City. Each time, they surprised. This appears a very tall order, too; but it's not like they haven't been here before.
In the wake of the charges against Thomas Partey, the secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, said it was concerning that football clubs did not have a standard approach to claims of sexual assault. Yet clubs do. In all but the most exceptional cases they favour resisting action until an investigation becomes a charge. It does not meet with the approval of all, but it seems to be how most employees or public officials would wish to be treated.
For instance, members of parliament. In 2024, a plan to suspend those accused of sexual wrongdoing was watered down after feedback from MPs to suspend only those charged. Labour was not in government at the time, but decided not to whip its MPs to vote to strengthen the bill. This was rather handy. In 2022, there were 56 MPs — or 8.6 per cent of parliament — that had faced accusations of sexual misconduct. If Arsenal had 8.6 per cent of their first-team squad in that position, it would be two to three players. Since 2022, however, only one MP — Peter Bone — has been suspended for sexual misconduct.
'I would prefer to see clubs coming together and agreeing a standard approach that makes sure that they are protecting women in that situation, and that is very much a conversation I'll be having with them,' Nandy said. Will you, minister? Right back at you when that happens.
There has been a lot of focus on recruitment at Manchester United, a lot of talk about catching up on data analysis and utilising more than just Jason Wilcox's eyes, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe had it. Yet the way modern football is set up, recruitment is now as much about knowing how to sell, as how to buy. A club needs to get men out before they can get them in — and that doesn't appear to be United's strength, either.
Their training ground is lousy with players Ruben Amorim doesn't want: Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Tyrell Malacia. Plainly, United paid over the odds for some and taking losses is never easy, but for the sake of team harmony and financial compliance, sometimes it must be done. For Arsenal to move forward, the club had to grit its teeth over Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Equally, Liverpool's selling has been as masterful as their buying. From Philippe Coutinho to Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino, they have displayed impeccable judgment.
Now Chelsea are working the market. They have a hub of players who are ring-fenced and a wider pool open to negotiation. And while we can ponder the wisdom of financial rules that make it smart to develop Noni Madueke and then sell him to Arsenal at the point he is maturing — while replacing him with a winger from Borussia Dortmund, Jamie Gittens, who would appear not so different — aspects of Chelsea's trading plan are beginning to pay dividends.
So what of United? There was talk Amorim would like to replace the goalkeeper André Onana, perhaps with Emiliano Martínez from Aston Villa, but then the trail went cold. The business for Matheus Cunha was done swiftly, but not for Bryan Mbeumo, with Brentford turning down two offers. Are United's bids limited by what they bring in? A long way to go until the window closes, of course, but there are two strands to wheeling and dealing.
Crystal Palace always looked likely to be sold out by Uefa and its specious deadlines over multi-club ownership. From the start, there appeared to be one rule for those who knew the game and another for those new to it. Yet John Textor's admission that on the day the FA Cup was won he feared Palace were in trouble suggests negligence, on his part, was an issue, too.
The rules are half-baked and the way around them duplicitous, so good luck if Palace want to make this an issue at the Court of Arbitration for Sport; but for future reference all clubs should now be aware there is a road map.
Equally, demotion may not be the setback it seems. The Europa League, though more lucrative, is unlikely to keep Eberechi Eze or Marc Guéhi if a bigger club pays the money, so is no different in that way, while the Conference League should be a realistic target for any qualifying Premier League club.
West Ham United won it, and Palace have equal potential. The clubs involved from the biggest leagues next season will be Fiorentina, Strasbourg, Rayo Vallecano, Santa Clara and Mainz, and the Palace manager Oliver Glasner made his name winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt. Having won nothing in their history, this is a chance for Palace to make it two in two, while also qualifying for the Europa League. And, next time, they'd know how to play all of Uefa's little games.
If part of the purpose of this Club World Cup is for Fifa to test the logistics for next summer's World Cup, then why does it already appear too late for learning? Every Fifa executive engaged in conversation about the schedule has looked absolutely nonplussed by any suggestion the schedule and locations should be switched with greater emphasis on cooler kick-off times and matches to the country's west.
Everywhere in the United States is hot in summer, but it is the east and central regions that suffer the great extremes — the storms, the torrential rain, the lightning, the most overwhelming heat and humidity.
The delays — to matches, to the arrival of teams by plane — have all been caused by weather in the east. Yet, to hear Fifa's argument, they have just been unlucky. As if lightning cannot strike twice.
And this is a 48-team tournament. Looking at the schedule, matches in groups C, E, F, H, I, J, K and L are all vulnerable. Yet Fifa's attitude appears to be one of, 'Don't worry, it may never happen'. Although, if it does, the game's world governing body cannot say that it was not warned. They have a year to address this.
When the football governance bill passed through parliament this week, the Liberal Democrats attempted an amendment. They wanted a minimum ten Premier League games each season, plus the League Cup final and all of the play-off finals ring-fenced for broadcast by free-to-air channels. This would have destroyed the Premier League business model overnight and, as it props up the three divisions below, English football from top to bottom. It also gives away, for nothing, the four most saleable games the EFL possess.
And 340 MPs opposed the amendment, which was defeated. Yet 86 voted for it; 86 absolute pillocks, who know so little about how football works that they would pass a law as good as ending it as a successful business in this country. And they run your lives. What else don't they know about? If they could destroy football with populist grandstanding, what else could they ruin?
The proposer of this amendment was Max Wilkinson, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, and its sponsors were his colleagues Lee Dillon, Luke Taylor, Joshua Reynolds, Calum Miller, Tom Morrison, Zoe Franklin, Edward Morello, Steve Darling, James MacCleary, Anna Sabine, John Milne, Tom Gordon, Munira Wilson, Caroline Voaden, Sarah Olney, Daisy Cooper, Jess Brown-Fuller, David Chadwick and Charlotte Cane. These people are idiots. Vote accordingly.