Winning the Club World Cup, but is Chelsea really the best club in the world?

Reece James couldn't understand what was happening. On the podium, US President Donald Trump had just placed the Club World Cup trophy in his hands, then stood there with no intention of leaving.

Other Chelsea players next to James couldn't help but laugh. Cole Palmer, the star of Chelsea's 3-0 win over PSG, frowned at President Trump in apparent confusion and told his captain to wait for him to come out before celebrating.

Not wanting to delay any longer, James turned to President Trump and, in front of the packed MetLife Stadium crowd and a large global television audience, appeared to ask the President if he was leaving. But President Trump continued to laugh, joking, "I'm here to celebrate with you guys." So James decided to raise the giant gold-plated Club World Cup trophy with the US President by his side.

President Trump celebrates with Chelsea players.

As fireworks lit up the MetLife sky, capping off the four-week tournament, a somewhat unusual scene unfolded as President Trump joined Chelsea players, who were cheering with excitement, forcing FIFA President Gianni Infantino to wade through the crowd, trying to explain and successfully pulling him out.

“People told me President Trump was going to present the trophy,” James told The Athletic. “When it was over, I thought he was going to leave the stage, but he wanted to stay. That shows the stature of the tournament.”

It is clear that FIFA has been very successful in promoting and enhancing the prestige and position of the Club World Cup, a global event to find the best club on the planet, similar to the World Cup created to determine the world champion team.

Chelsea is named the best club in the world.

"For the first time in history, a competition is being created to determine which club deserves to be the best club in the world," said President Infantino.

The announcement has been met with mixed reactions. Many believe that the Club World Cup’s main purpose, beyond economics , is an attempt to regain FIFA’s influence in club football. As for the answer to which club is the best in the world, it’s hard to say with the champions of the three strongest leagues (Liverpool in the Premier League, Barca in La Liga and Napoli in Serie A) all absent.

Chelsea are here because they won the Champions League in 2021. However, football changes very quickly, and in the past 4 years, Chelsea is now very different from the Chelsea that was led by Thomas Tuchel and owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich. In the current squad, James is the only name left in the 23-man squad for the 2021 Champions League final.

Chelsea is very different now than it was four years ago.

Compared to Chelsea, PSG feels more fitting as the "best club in the world". Although they qualified for the tournament thanks to their good ranking in the UEFA four-year rankings, coincidentally, Les Parisiens have just won the Champions League in a very impressive way. On their way to the final, they also destroyed a series of superpowers, including Bayern and Real.

But PSG didn’t win. Chelsea did. Underdogs, but the Blues improved over time before pulling off a stunning final at MetLife Stadium. Enzo Maresca’s side not only disrupted PSG’s rhythm in midfield but also played an attacking game from the start. The FIFA panel of experts couldn’t find any weaknesses in PSG, but Maresca did, setting up the team correctly and exploiting the positioning of left-back Nuno Mendes. Malo Gusto, Palmer and Joao Pedro constantly targeted PSG’s left flank, creating three goals.

Defeating PSG 3-0, Chelsea won the FIFA Club World Cup 2025

Once they beat the frontrunners for the title, Chelsea will surely be crowned the best club.

“Winning the Club World Cup makes us very proud,” said Maresca, “We are very happy to win against a team like PSG. I always considered them the best team in the world, and they are led by one of the best coaches in the world (Luis Enrique)."

As the first team to win the Club World Cup in the expanded era, Chelsea confidently declared themselves world champions and will play with the champions badge on their chests for the next four years. On Sunday night, the Empire State Building on the waterfront in Manhattan was lit up in Chelsea blue, a testament to the world's best club.

Like it or not, this is the truth.